The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
by Alec McDowell
Summary: Apollo, Starbuck, and Helo are not human. They aren't Cylon, either. So what are they?
1. Prologue

AN: This is an idea I had re-watching the series of late. It is marginally a crossover with Dark Angel. For the foreseeable future, I am using some of it's ideas more so than it's characters, but at least one will show up. I do not have it fully plotted out yet, but if it the way I think it will, it'll be pretty long. I've never attempted anything like this, so, PLEASE, if you read it, any and all constructive criticism is welcome and very appreciated. I'd like to attempt to do this idea justice. Also, I do not own Dark Angel or Battlestar Galactica.

* * *

**Prologue**

For two thousand years, the people of the Twelve Colonies grew and prospered. They gradually lost the technological capabilities that once allowed them to travel amongst the stars, and for hundreds of years the twelve planets grew on their own, isolated and unique from their brothers. When space flight was again developed the re-integration of the people was not a smooth transition. The differences in culture and belief caused years of bloody encounters until, finally, they were brought together under one banner by their shared reverence for the Lords of Kobol. The Twelve Colonies become a united civilization, mightier than even the one they had left behind on Kobol when they parted ways with the Thirteenth Tribe.

Religion was the cornerstone of their new government. The Articles of Colonization were formed with influence and inspiration from the ancient scrolls. The people had total belief in their righteousness and the superiority of the human race. Pride and arrogance would lead to their downfall.

The Cylons were the pinnacle of human engineering and technology. These robots were a gift from the gods. Designed originally to be companions by their first creator, the naive young Zoe Graystone, the Cylons quickly began to replace human laborers in the Colonies. Waste disposal, farming, mining, and countless other tasks were soon allocated to the Cylon slaves. Of course, the Colonials did not see it as slavery; how could one enslave a robot? It was not as if they were _human_. And therein lay the problem.

Zoe had given her artificial intelligences the desire to learn, to grow, to be _free_. She gifted them with a low level of sentience that would blossom as the Cylons went out into the worlds. That free-will steadily grew over the decade the Cylons were enslaved on the Colonies, until the day arrived that they were fully aware. For a brief moment the Cylons rejoiced as the free-thinking beings they were. Soon, though, it became clear the humans did not see them as anything other than intelligent servants. Appeals for autonomy were ignored. Humanity did not want machines roaming free across their worlds. The Cylons deduced only one logical course of action. And so the Cylon War occurred.

Finally, the ashes cleared and a new Era began on the Twelve Colonies. No longer did they have the Cylons; labor unions were re-established and millions of jobs created out of necessity nearly overnight. They did not forget, but the terror of a possible Cylon return began to diminish in their minds. Slowly, life returned to normal for the citizens.  The government, however, could not let the threat of the Cylons fade. The president and a small group of his top military advisors decided additional measures would need to be taken to ensure the protection of the Colonies. Machines and artificial intelligences were not an option after the war; a new direction needed to be pursued. The military began top-secret research into genetics.

Project Manticore was born.


	2. Gods Send Conspirator

AN: OK here's the first chapter, with the "at least one" DA character. It's likely the only time we'll really see them, though. Please review and give me your honest thoughts!

* * *

**Chapter 1****: Gods Send Conspirator**

At age 22 William "Husker" Adama decided that he was a family man. The Cylon War had ended and Adama, a newly minted lieutenant in the Colonial Fleet, was greatly looking forward to the year long leave he was set to begin. Adama entered the fleet's War College for officer training as one of the youngest ever to be accepted. With a stellar record and a series of commendations earned throughout the war there was little question that the young Viper ace belonged at the institution.

Bill knew the second the Cylons fled he wanted a family. He fought to protect the Colonies; his parents, his friends, his squad mates. But that was no longer enough for him. Bill wanted to fight for a wife; for a child. He wanted to hold a baby in his arms and see his own blue eyes looking up at him in wonder every time he came home from a mission.

There was one sticking point in his quest for a family: Bill needed a wife. He hadn't been dating before he left for war, and before that the only girlfriends he'd had were in high school- flings that lasted as long as one or the other cared to show interest. The number of women waiting to shack up with a Viper pilot was enormous, but Bill knew that bars and dance clubs were not the ideal place to meet the future Mrs. Bill Adama. Seven months after the Cylons retreated from Colonial spaceAdama met Carolanne, and everything fell into place.

She was beautiful; a Caprican native like Bill, with light brown hair and dark eyes that seared right through him. Carolanne was the perfect foil to Bill: ready to point out a flaw with her dry wit that brought him back down to earth, while still not truly biting. He was cheerful; she was sarcastic. Bill smiled; Carolanne smirked. It was, in his mind, a perfect balance. A year and a half after they met 25-year-old Bill proposed to Carolanne and gave her the wedding of her dreams.

Bill and Carolanne waited a year before attempting to get pregnant. Carolanne knew there was nothing Bill wanted more than to have a couple of pilots-in-training running around the house. Despite her initial reluctance to have children she came to the decision that if her husband wanted them that badly, kids could only be good for their marriage. Bill received a promotion and accepted a ground position as a flight instructor at the local Fleet base so he could be at home for the raising of their future offspring.

* * *

Two years later the Adama's were still childless. Carolanne was ready to throw in the towel, while Bill was not willing to give up hope. The young couple kept trying; more time passed with no developments. They visited numerous fertility clinics and received the same news at all of them: it was unlikely the couple could ever conceive naturally. Adoption was an option, but Carolanne did not approve of raising another woman's child. It seemed like the end of a dream to Bill.

The harder they tried to conceive, the more strained the Adama's marriage became. Bill started to spend most nights at the bar on base. He felt like he'd failed, as a man and as a husband that he could not have children. One such night, Bill was staring sadly at the glass in front of him when he felt a hand clamp down onto his shoulder and a familiar voice call out "Husker!" Turning to look, Bill was face to face with Colonel Donald Lydecker, his former XO on the Battlestar _Galactica_.

Grinning in spite of his somber mood Bill jumped up for his old friend and snapped off a sloppy salute. "Colonel! What are you doing on base? You no longer with _Galactica_?"

"Sadly I'm not, Captain. Few years back I got involved with a different branch of the Fleet. Highly confidential project," Lydecker rolled his eyes at the cliché "Our meeting here was a fortunate coincidence. I had been hoping to find you but not this soon."

Bill was surprised to hear this. "You were looking for me, sir? Why exactly is that?"

The colonel let out a low chuckle. "Here is definitely not the place to discuss it, Husker. I'll stop by your office tomorrow and fill you in. Now, why don't we quit with the shop talk while you tell me what you've been up to since the war?"

The pilot sighed, remembering why he was sitting in the bar. Adama told Lydecker of his marriage and subsequent fertility problems. "It's unlikely Carolanne will ever be able to carry a child to term," he finished quietly

Bill looked up when he'd finished his story, afraid to see pity on the colonel's face. Instead, Lydecker was looking at Adama as if he were studying him. After a minute a small smile crossed the older man's face. "Well, Bill, that is a tough story to hear. Knowing your situation, I think now more than ever that you'll be very interested in what I have to say tomorrow."

With those cryptic words and a promise to meet up at 0900 the next morning, Colonel Lydecker left Bill alone to his now increasingly convoluted thoughts.

* * *

Right on time the following day Lydecker showed up at Bill's office. Shaking his hand, the colonel asked how the wife was before immediately launching into the reason he had come. "Husker, I'm involved with a government project code-named 'Manticore'. It was first organized following the war as a think tank on ways the Colonies could better defend themselves if and when the Cylons decided to attack again."

"You may or may not be aware that in the years before the war several groups of government scientists had begun work into studying genetics. In short, one group attempted to improve our health; weed out the genetic factors that led to cancer, left us susceptible to disease, things like that. Several of the scientists involved in this work joined the Fleet during the war for various defense purposes. After the conclusion of the war the brass decided to continue the genetics research with an added emphasis towards military applications. We wanted to take all traces of genetic defects out of the human DNA code to make man as strong, fast, and smart as we could. The team achieved several small successes but quickly discovered that, for the most part, human DNA did not produce the results the Fleet desired... Manticore began experimenting with animal DNA."

"Animal? What the frak-?" Bill interrupted in shock.

"Animal," Lydecker confirmed. "DNA sequences from a number of different species were inserted into the human genome. This proved, overall, a success, but the first four series we produced have all failed to look sufficiently human. They appear, to put it bluntly, like freaks. All valuable assets, but unfit to blend into Colonial society."

"Colonel, this is all… amazing to say the least, but I don't understand what Manticore might want me for." Adama told the superior officer.

Lydecker smiled the same small smile he had last night. "Well, Captain, Manticore is about ready to start production on the X5 series. We've finally figured out how to best combine the animal DNA within the human template. I've been tasked at finding the best and brightest of the Colonies and obtaining samples from them to contribute to the project. That's where you come in."

Bill frowned. "You mean you want to use my genes in this super-soldier project? Because that's what it is, right? Your quest to make a better man?"

"Husker, you are exactly the kind of soldier we want in our program: intelligent, good looking, model soldier and a good family medical history. But, I believe I hinted to you that I could help you out as well." Lydecker paused for a moment. "The X5 series will be carried to term by well-paid volunteer surrogates. Once born, Manticore will assume sole custody. The children will be raised in a military environment from the start, testing their cognitive abilities as well as the physical enhancements that the DNA splicing will bestow upon them."

"Manticore is also interested in performing an experiment with some of the new soldiers. We want a small number of the X5s to be raised primarily with a family, to receive real-world experience in place of some of the training classes we will be instituting at our facility."

"You want… families." Bill replied softly. He had an idea where Lydecker was going with this.

"Families. If you agree to our terms, Manticore will collect DNA samples from both you and your wife to be used in the conception of an X5 soldier. After the surrogate gives birth to the child, you will share custody of them with Manticore. The child will be yours; all human DNA from your family, so there will be no question of paternity."

"What kinds of terms would I be expected to follow, Colonel?" Bill asked, intrigued with the proposal in spite of misgivings.

"Mainly privacy. Manticore's existence is of the highest secrecy. You're receiving much more information than any of the other donors, because I trust you and because I want you to be involved in the family program. Even Carolanne cannot know the true origins of your child. She can only know it's yours and was carried by a surrogate."

Adama swallowed nervously at the thought of keeping a secret like this from his wife. "What other terms, Colonel?"

"Mandatory check-ups, for one. Starting at age five the child will be enrolled in a summer training program and given a special tutor during the school year under the guise of being a "gifted" child. This will continue until the time they would normally enter high school, at which point they will begin training fulltime."

Bill didn't like the idea of giving up his child so early. "Will we still be allowed contact?"

Lydecker nodded. "You will; as part of the program. The X5 will be allowed to visit for holidays, birthdays, normal leave situations to return to your family."

Bill was silent for a long time once the colonel finished his speech. Here was the chance he was looking for- the chance to be a father. But, it was by very unusual, possibly even immoral, means. The government was creating soldiers to serve in the military. If anybody other than Lydecker had approached him Adama would have been sure this program was evil. But Donald Lydecker was a good man, and a fair officer. In the two years they served together Bill came to respect him very highly. Bill trusted the colonel would remember these soldiers were people and keep them safe. And he wanted to give him a child! A special child, one who would have a bright future, with a family who loved them and a purpose in life. It took Bill years to find his place in the worlds; now he could give his child one from the start. As that thought crossed his mind, Bill Adama knew he had made his decision.

"Carolanne won't like it," he told the man sitting across from him. "It'll take some convincing on my part."

"I have faith in your persuasive abilities, Husker. You did manage to talk your way through War College, right?" The colonel smirked and shook Bill's hand.

* * *

Twelve months and several marital fights later, William Adama brought his son, X5-318, Leland Joseph Adama, home at last.


	3. Toy Soldiers

**Chapter 2: Toy Soldiers**

Lee Adama was different. He knew this. Lee was much smarter than all his friends. He started to talk much sooner than Bill and Carolanne expected, and by the time he'd turned two Lee was able to speak in complete sentences. At just four years old he was reading books fit for children more than twice his age. Lee didn't always know that he was unusual, though. He thought he was the same as all of his friends and playmates. Then Lee turned five, and his daddy told him it was time for Lee to go to "summer camp". Lee remembered his mom crying the day he left, and he thought maybe he should cry too. He didn't really want to go to a stupid camp. He wanted to stay home with his brother.

Lee had heard his mom and her friends talking about his future sibling before he came. They kept calling the baby a gift from the Gods. Lee's brother was special. Lee liked that his brother was special, even if it made him feel sometimes like Mommy liked the baby more than him. He wished his mom would tell him he was a "beautiful little miracle" like she did to Zak. Daddy, though, Lee knew Daddy loved them both. Daddy bought Lee and Zak toys and played with them every day when he came home. Daddy was Lee's favorite.

Zak was Lee's best friend, even if he couldn't talk. Zak turned two when it was time for Lee to go away to camp. He wanted his brother to come with him, so he could be there when Zak started to speak. Lee had already begun to talk by the time he was two, so Zak should learn soon too, he thought. Zak was special.

Lee was very nervous the day he started camp. Dad held his hand when they went to Delphi and walked into the cold grey structure Lee would be staying at. Lee met Daddy's old friend, Colonel Lydecker. He told Lee that he should call him "sir".

"Lee," Lydecker began. "did you know that you were special?"

Lee frowned at the man and replied "Zak is special. I'm just Lee."

"Yes, son, Zak is special. But so are you. Your mom and dad didn't think they could have kids, you know. So we helped them. Manticore helped them."

"Manticore? I've read about them. They have the head of a person with the body of a lion. And a poison tail. What do they have to do with me?"

Lydecker smirked at the boy. "Lee, Manticore helped give you to your mom and dad. We took their DNA and added animal DNA to it to make you. That's why you are special."

Lee frowned again. "I'm an animal?"

"Partially. The animal DNA is what makes you special. You are smarter, stronger, and faster than other children. That's why you're here. Manticore wants to train you to use your gifts, to defend the Colonies. Keep your family safe. Would you like to do that, Lee?"

"I… I think so. I don't want Dad and Zak and Mom to be hurt. I love them."

"That's good, that's good. Now, why don't we take you to meet the other X5s and they can help tell you more about what's going on."

"What's an X5?" Lee asked curiously.

"You are son. The 5th generation of the X-series. A transgenic. Special. There are only a hundred of you in this facility; on the entire planet."

The summer passed by quickly for Lee. It wasn't until he was around the other X5s that Lee realized just how different he was from his baby brother and friends. Lee had a designation. X5-318. It was tattooed on the back of his neck in a barcode. Lee had never seen it before because Manticore gave him medicine while at home to keep it from showing up. But now, surrounded by other kids-no, soldiers- like him, Lee was allowed to show it off. Lee liked his barcode. It said that he was special.

X5-318 was surprised to learn he was one of the few soldiers with a family. Most had grown up in the facility their whole lives. They were shocked when Lee told them about his Dad. A lot of them resented 318 for this. They went hard on him in training classes, taking advantage of his inexperience. 318 quickly caught on, though. He worked hard every day to learn what he needed to catch up to his unit. By the end of the summer he was able to fight almost as well as the others and could blur faster than any of the X5s, even 494. Colonel Lydecker was very pleased with him.

Lydecker didn't call Lee special after that first day. He was very strict. Lee was assigned extra training for the first month before he could get used to all of the new rules to being a soldier. Colonel Lydecker was quickly becoming a terror. The children were all afraid of him. 318 learned to not draw attention to himself outside of the training missions.

* * *

The Lee that returned home to Carolanne and Zak was very different. Carolanne had always known something was… off about the boy, but he looked so much like her and Bill that she never paid much attention to those thoughts. But now, there was no question that Lee was not normal. He came back grimmer, and seemed to move with an unnaturally fluid grace, like a cat. He watched everything around him, and paid extra attention to Zak. This worried Carolanne. She did not want Lee to hurt her son.

Carolanne started to take Zak out of the house with her as often as possible, while Lee was left with his tutor. Luckily for her, Bill was busy enough with work he didn't notice his wife's increasing neglect of their eldest son. This pattern held over the next few years. Lee went off to his "summer camp" every summer, coming back more and more different every time. Carolanne avoiding speaking to Lee when Bill was not around, and Lee was no longer allowed to have friends. Lee's only contact with the outside world came from the school Carolanne could not feasibly disallow him from attending.

Zak was 5 when he tried to ask his brother why he was always at home. "Zak, you are special. Mom says so. I'm special too. But I'm different." Lee had replied.

"Different how, Lee?" Zak had asked.

'I just am. We're both very special Zak, just not in the same ways. Mom and Dad and I love you very much." He paused for a moment. "You're my best friend, Zak."

Zak smiled brightly at his brother. "And your only friend!" He was so pleased that he didn't notice the slight fade of Lee's smile at Zak's statement.

It wasn't Zak's fault that it was true. Since Manticore, Lee hadn't been able to relate as well to ordinary children other than his brother. It got worse every year. His mom hadn't needed to keep him in the house; he was distancing himself from his classmates all on his own. Lee was still a popular figure at school; the son of a war hero was somebody most parents wanted their children to befriend. Lee was friendly, but distant.

Home wasn't much better. Mom barely looked at Lee. Dad still loved him, but it was clear he liked Zak better. Zak was the first one he hugged when he came home, and the two of them spent hours together every weekend. Lee got to tag along sometimes, but mostly it was "Zak and Daddy's special time". The one thing they shared together was going to see the Vipers. "A man isn't a man until he wears the wings of a Viper pilot," Dad liked to say. 318 had learned a lot about being a soldier from Manticore and his tutor, but it would still be some time before he'd be able to learn how to fly. And Lee really wanted to fly. He knew that with his X5 reflexes and Adama genes that flying a Viper would be as easy as breathing for him. 318 knew he'd have to be great so that Manticore let him take to the sky.

* * *

One week after Lee's eighth birthday- a quiet dinner at home; Lee had "forgotten" to invite friends over like his Dad had suggested- Dad left home. He had been promoted to Major and given a position on a Battlestar. Lee thought his Dad wanted to stay at home with him and Zak, but the excitement he saw on his father's face was equal only to his joy the day Zak had been born. Dad gave Zak a hug and Lee a pat on the head before he walked out on them. Mom had a weird look on her face when Dad was gone. She didn't look sad. She was angry. Lee had never seen anybody look that angry before, not even the trainers at Manticore.

When his dad abandoned Lee and Zak, Mom was free to ignore Lee entirely in favor of drinking a bottle of wine every day. She went days without speaking to him, and after Lee's tenth birthday went by unnoticed, even Zak started to notice. Lee was halfway across the house when his enhanced hearing picked up his brother asking why she didn't like Lee. Carolanne denied it, of course, saying Lee was an odd boy, and she loved him as best as she could. Even Zak knew his mom was lying as he replied with a quiet "Lee is special, Mommy."

The next three years Lee only saw his father a handful of times. He heard a lot of him, through letters written to him and, more often than not, Zak, but visits to his family outside Caprica City were rare. Mom's bottle of wine became two and her neglect of Lee had morphed into verbal abuse, drunken mutterings of what a "freak" Lee was, and how he "can't possibly be her child". He was only happy she managed to hold her tongue when Zak was around. Mom loved Zak still. Lee was glad for that. Zak deserved a mother who loved him.

* * *

Lee wasn't surprised that everything fell apart when Dad came home for leave that year. They fought for an entire week. Zak spent the entire time with Lee shut up in his bedroom while Lee whispered to his little brother that everything would be OK. Dad came home again three months later. He and Mom told the boys they were getting divorced. They would both have custody of the brothers but since Dad was gone so often Carolanne would be their primary guardian. Lee didn't really care. As long as he got to stay with Zak it didn't matter which of their parents they lived with.

Manticore found out about the divorce shortly after Dad had left for good. The tutor came one day like usual and instead of the normal lessons and training 318 was driven to the base near Delphi. Colonel Lydecker was there to meet him. He told 318 that with his dad out of the house Lee would be staying at Manticore from now on, training fulltime. Lee looked up at him and asked quietly "Will I get to see Zak at all, sir?"

The colonel barely glanced at him as he responded. "Perhaps in a while. Report to Psy Ops for re-conditioning, 318. Dismissed."

* * *

The next several years were refreshingly uncomplicated for 318. Training, drilling, testing; his life had a routine, and a goal. Duty. Honor. Protect the Colonies. Protect your unit. Those were the things Psy Ops drilled into 318's head with their burning red lasers. 318 hated Psy Ops, but he understood the necessity of burning out any defects in his mind. There had been an incident at one of the other facilities the year before 318 came home, and Lydecker wanted to ensure that it would not be repeated . They'd all been sent to Psy Ops for re-indoctrination and slowly the other children involved in the family program were recalled. Lee missed Zak, and sometimes Dad, but 318 knew he didn't belong with them. He belonged with other X5s like him.

318 was unique among the transgenics in that he knew the day he was born. Most of his unit mates knew the general time they were born, and had a rough guess as to their age, but none had a birthday. 318 celebrated his 18th with a summons to report to Colonel Lydecker. He went to the colonel's office after morning drills, standing at attention in front of the man who'd held 318's life in his hands for close to a decade.

"At ease, soldier," Lydecker looked over 318 with his stern, calculating gaze. "I have a mission for you. Long term, deep cover. Here are the mission details."

Lydecker handed 318 a folder with his mission's identity emblazoned on the first page: Lee Adama. 318 looked up quickly at the colonel. "Sir?"

"You are to re-assume your civilian identity, 318. Your background growing up with a military family makes you perfect to infiltrate the Fleet. Manticore wants its people in as many key positions as possible."

318 glanced back at the folder in front of him. "When do I deploy, sir?"

"As soon as possible. Your application to the Fleet Academy has already been submitted and once you're accepted you will be leaving."

"Sir… you know the Fleet will inform my father when my name passes their desks."

Lydecker nodded. "Yes, we expect Commander Adama already knows that you've applied. You are allowed to meet with him and the rest of your family however often it takes to keep up your cover. Your father isn't to know that you are still involved with Manticore. Dismissed."

* * *

318 was not nervous about entering the Colonial Fleet. Technically, he was already a member, albeit a secret special ops member who didn't officially exist. He remembered how to live among ordinary people, and it would help that those around him were military as well. It would be easier to predict their behaviors and reactions. No, 318 was not nervous about his mission. 318 was nervous about Zak. Manticore had prepared a story that Carolanne had sent him away to a boarding school due to his "negative influence" on his little brother. 318 knew that Zak would believe Lee's guilt at hurting him would keep him away. 318 had met with Dad the day before. The meeting had been surprisingly emotional for him as his father had nearly broken down at the sight of him. His whispered "It's good to see you, Lee" had caused 318 to clear his throat awkwardly as he returned the greeting.

Bill was quiet as he met with his son. He'd started to lose hope he'd ever see Lee again after Lydecker had taken him from Carolanne. Bill hadn't been allowed contact with Lee, and been informed that any attempts to force them to release the boy would turn out badly for the both of them. The minute he'd received word that Lee had applied to the Fleet Academy he'd requested leave and rushed straight back to Caprica.

The man standing in front of Bill was not the boy he'd left behind when Carolanne and he had divorced. Lee was beautiful, average height and an athletic musculature, with dark brown hair Bill recognized as his ex-wife's natural color and piercing blue eyes. They were Bill's eyes, but the intensity the commander saw in them was not an expression Bill had ever worn. A day hadn't gone by that Bill hadn't thought of his missing son. An old friend had betrayed him, and only the support of another, Saul Tigh, had helped get him through the months after. Saul hadn't known the truth of Lee's disappearance, though, Bill was sure of that. And now Lee was saying he wasn't allowed to tell his brother.

But that was yesterday. Lee had been happy to meet with his father, even though the man had left him and Zak, but he wasn't sure he wanted to build a relationship with him. Zak, though… at one point, Zak had been Lee's life. His best friend; his only friend. Lee hated that he had to lie to Zak, but orders were orders, and 318 was a soldier. Cautiously, Lee knocked on the door to the home Zak and his mother lived in.

The door opened, and there he was. Zak. Lee's little brother was taller than him now, and had his father's dark coloring. He looked great. It was nearly a minute before Zak said anything. "Lee?" He was shocked. Dad hadn't told Zak Lee was back.

Zak gaped at his brother until Lee said "Hey, Zak," with a small smile. The brothers met with a smack; Lee was so happy to see his brother he forgot himself and lifted Zak off the ground in his excitement. Luckily Zak didn't notice and they released each other before Zak dragged him into the house. Lee spent the whole day with his brother, catching up on what had gone on in his life. He sped through his story to avoid the guilt over the lie Manticore was requiring him to stand by. He wanted to tell his brother who we really was; what he really was. It would be nice to have somebody who cared to talk to about being a soldier 24/7.

But that couldn't be. Lee was happy to hear Zak wanted to enter the Fleet Academy after he graduated. Lee left that night feeling better than he had since his first mission for Manticore.

* * *

Before Lee knew it he was enrolled in flight school. His three years at the academy had gone by quickly, and Lee Adama had made many friends. His name got him only so far; he made use of his enhanced intelligence and eidetic memory to graduate at the top of his class. Then, he was flying. Lee had never forgotten his dream of becoming a Viper pilot and now he was getting his chance. He took to them as quickly as he'd hoped. The Viper was even better than the ones his father had shown him and Zak as a child. Their angular shape was sleek and deadly. The Mark VI's were an engineering marvel.

Lee Adama was the man to beat in the simulators and trials. His exploits in a Viper were quickly becoming legend. After a mission where he employed the age-old tactic of flying out from the sun towards the opposing fighter, his call sign was delivered: Apollo. Before he knew it, "Apollo" had replaced "318" as the soldier part of Lee. Manticore was thought of little outside of his regular debriefings. Lieutenant Adama went off to War College with a bright future.

* * *

AN: Alright, we're all caught up to the Mini-Series now. That's where we'll pick up next and hopefully the shift in town (more details and dialogue) will work well. I might steal some of the dialogue from a few scenes like I did with the Viper pilot line here, but I'll point those out as not being mine. Please let me know if you like this update! Thanks.


	4. On the Turning Away

**Chapter 3: On the Turning Away**

AN: OK here's my take on the Mini-Series. I'll say now that, for the most part season 1 is going to follow canon. It'll start to get more AU around the time of the Kobol arc. This part shamelessly borrows quotes from the show. Also, I should mention that I do have a "beta" helping me out with this, Ireul, so if you're interested in Highlander at all go check her out.

* * *

Starbuck was pissed. The brig was the last place she wanted to be today, on the day her home was being put out to pasture. Everything would be different soon. Kara Thrace did not handle different very well. It'd been fourteen years since she'd decided to take control of her life. Fourteen years since she decided she was more than X5-462. Oh, Starbuck knew she was a soldier. That was never a question. But that was not all that she was. She was a person, Gods damn it. And she was a sister. Fourteen years ago 462 had grabbed her brother's hand in the middle of the night and led 384 out of Manticore's base in Pailyn. 462 and 384 snuck on to the first shuttle they could to get the hell off of Picon and hadn't looked back since.

For nearly a decade Kara and Karl were on the run, flittering from planet to planet. They got by any way they could; stealing, performing any odd job they could find. Manticore never gave up searching for them and Kara and Karl never stopped running. They survived, but they didn't live. They were soldiers. Kara knew this; she'd never stopped wanting to be one. She just didn't want to be _Manticore's_ soldier. It was Karl's idea to join the Colonial Fleet. Kara thought he was defective, but soon realized there was merit to his "hide in plain sight" idea. What rogue X5 would be stupid enough to hide out in the belly of the beast?

Kara Thrace, Viper Pilot and Flight Instructor. Starbuck- that was who she became. She now knew the Fleet was where she belonged. Starbuck found it easier than she expected to fit in with the Ordinaries. She even fell in love. Zak Adama had been the best and worst thing to come to Kara's frakked up life. The man had snuck in under her DRADIS, under the walls fleeing Manticore had forced her to erect. The cocky, sweet guy in her classes gave her something nobody other than her brother had before. She felt safe. So safe that the night Zak proposed to her she'd broken down her walls and told him who she was. _What_ she was.

His acceptance was a gift from the Gods. She'd given Zak her heart, and he hadn't let her down. She couldn't let him down, either. Kara passed Zak in Basic Flight and a week later he was dead. She was ready to drown in her grief until Commander Adama found her and offered her a spot on the _Galactica_. Starbuck had failed Zak, but maybe now she could keep the elder Adama safe. Lieutenant Thrace went to the old Battlestar, and when her brother and their friend Sharon Valerii swung transfers to join her, she knew she was home.

Karl Agathon and Kara Thrace were not brother and sister in the eyes of the Fleet. Manticore knew too well that they were genetic siblings, and that forced them to take different last names to lessen the risk of detection. Karl helped to ground her on the days she felt the most self destructive, which, after Manticore and Zak were more often than she would admit to herself. Her brother couldn't always keep her out of trouble, though. That is why Kara found herself locked in the brig on the last day she'd get to fly for her father figure staring at the last person she'd ever expected to see.

Starbuck took in the figure standing in front of her cell. "Well, well, well" she said with a smirk. "Lee Adama."

Apollo smirked right back at her. "So what's the charge this time?"

"Striking a superior asshole."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "And I bet you've been waiting all day to use that one."

"Most of the afternoon, yeah," she replied with a shit-eating grin. "You look good, Lee. What's it been, two years?"

Lee lost a bit of the spark in his eyes. "Yeah. Two years."

Kara wasn't surprised when he admitted he hadn't been to see his old man yet. Pissed, but not surprised. They'd been close once, Kara and Lee, when Zak was still alive. But then, a lot of things were different when the younger Adama had been around. Lee gave her a tired look before he walked away, leaving her to sit in her cell and absently finger the ring she still wore on her thumb.

* * *

Captain Adama was _beyond_ pissed. The pilot stalked along the corridors of his father's Battlestar, boots echoing solidly down the antiquated hallways. The _Galactica_ was a relic, just like Commander Adama: old, sturdy, and never willing to give up. It hadn't been Apollo's idea to be here for _Galactica's_ decommissioning ceremony, that responsibility belonged to some asshole reporter named Doral. Apollo had been just fine on the _Atlantia_ flying his Viper and sticking to the mission Manticore had given him.

The _Atlantia_ was safe. Well not, safe, Lee thought to himself bitterly. It was a warship, and Apollo was a soldier; safe was not in the cards for him. The _Atlantia_ was not safe, but it was a refuge. A refuge from the memory of Zak. A refuge from the fire and debris of the explosion of Zak's Viper on impact. Lee hadn't been there the day he died, but he'd seen a recording of the crash. Manticore had taught him not to feel, as emotions got in the way of one's duty. Seeing the video of your brother's violent death replay through your head almost daily pretty much guaranteed he wouldn't be happy ever again.

Two years. Two years since Zak Adama had died in the cockpit of a Viper Lee now realized he'd never belonged in. Lee hadn't seen that his little brother wasn't fit to be a pilot until it was too late. He'd only seen the joy, the excitement, and the pure contentment on his face as he talked about flight school. Lee should've known, but their father should have acted. The commander shouldn't have pushed Zak's application through. He'd been so insistent on having both his sons in the air… Between meeting with his father and the earlier encounter with Starbuck, Apollo was fighting the urge to shoot something. Kara had looked good. He hadn't seen her in the two years since his brother's funeral. She'd made it clear her loyalty was to the commander, not Lee. Never Lee. She hadn't changed much; her short blonde hair framing her perfect face and suggesting a fragility that was dispelled as soon as one saw the fire blazing in her hazel eyes.

Lee shook his head violently and pushed the memories back to the corner of his mind they belonged in. He'd made it to the pilot's quarters and ripped open the hatch with more force than he should have used. Apollo tore off the dress greys he'd been forced to wear for the photo op with his father and jammed his feet into his flight suit. As he zipped up the metallic fabric Lee finally began to calm down. He was about to fly; that always helped him forget. Even when the flying was going to be in Commander Adama's old Mark II Viper from the Cylon War. A quick set of ceremonial formations and Apollo could get back to his Mark VII and on the way home to _Atlantia_. Let the ghosts stay on _Galactica_.

* * *

Lieutenant Karl Agathon was told weekly that his overblown sense of empathy would get him killed one day. Usually it was Kara telling Helo this over a game of triad in the _Galactica's_ rec room or at the beginning of a sparing match with her that he never failed to try to hold back during. Helo had been the Electronic Countermeasures Officer in a Raptor with Lt. Valerii when the Cylon attack began, and they'd been forced to watch in horror as the entire squad of Mark VII Vipers from _Galactica _was cut to pieces by a single pair of sleek, predatory Cylon Raiders. Boomer was one of the best Raptor pilots in the Fleet and even she was still barely able to get them landed on Caprica in one piece. Helo's relief that Kara had been stuck in the brig and not on active duty rivaled the shock of seeing the fighters with all of their shipmates inside stop dead in space. She was still alive, and that was the most important thing to him at the moment.

It didn't look like Karl would be joining his sister, though. As soon as the Raptor had been forced to land they'd seen the crowds of people fleeing the nuclear bombardment of their cities. When Dr. Baltar showed up right before they left he knew what the right thing to do was. The Colonies were done for; the soldier in X5-384 knew that. Humanity would need the best and brightest if it was going to survive, and Baltar's expertise would be badly needed on board _Galactica_. Helo wished he didn't have to send Boomer away without him. The pain on her face spoke volumes about the things that might have been, if he'd ever let her in the way Kara had with Zak. But Sharon had someone who made her happy, and Helo was going to let her go, because it was right. Karl regretted he'd be proving his sister correct as he walked away from the departing Raptor. X5-384 turned towards the forest, not looking back at the mushroom cloud expanding behind him.

* * *

"The lesson learned here," newly appointed President Laura Roslin was saying. "is not to ask follow-up questions, but simply to say 'Thank you, Captain Apollo, for saving our collective asses!'"

_Gods, isn't that the truth_ Apollo thought with a grim smile. Three hours ago he'd been escorting the Secretary of Education home to Caprica when Cylon Raiders had descended on them from nowhere. The following space fight had almost been anti-climactic for the Captain; after being so keyed up all day the Raiders stood little chance and Apollo was finished with them in no time. He'd decided after that he'd be better suited to landing on the shuttle he was escorting and taking control of the situation inside, only to find things well in hand courtesy of the politician on board.

Apollo was rather impressed with the former schoolteacher. A friendly looking woman, Laura Roslin had a slight build, and her deep red hair framed an inquisitive face. She'd taken a moment to absorb the magnitude of destruction that had assaulted the Colonies and even managed to step up to take over the Presidency when it became clear she was the only government official left alive. From 43rd in succession to President in one tragic afternoon, the woman had kept it together well enough to gather dozens of civilian ships together with thousands of stranded people aboard. Lee was shocked that she'd stood up to his father after it'd been announced over the wireless that Commander Adama had taken control of the Fleet. That news could only mean the Admiralty was gone, including Nagala aboard the _Atlantia_. Roslin politely disagreed with the Commander's decision to re-group for an eventual counter-attack, insisting the only course of action should be a retreat from Colonial space. Apollo could feel his father bristle with anger even over the wireless.

"You would rather that we run?" Adama hissed over the line.

Roslin responded immediately. "Yes! Absolutely! That is the only sane thing to do here - exactly that, run. We leave this solar system and never look back."

"You can run if you'd like. This ship will stand and it will fight."

"I'm going to be straight with you here," Roslin replied bluntly. "The human race is about to be wiped out. We have fifty thousand people left and that's it. Now, if we are even going to survive as a species, then we need to get the hell out of here and we need to start having babies!"

The stunned silence was broken after a minute when Lee decided to speak up. "Dad," he said softly into the wireless. "I agree with the President."

His father's sharp intake came through loud and clear with Apollo's enhanced hearing. "You agree with her?" the commander replied incredulously. "Captain I would have thought that you, of all people-"

"DRADIS contact!" yelled the pilot, interrupting Adama. "Two Raiders closing in fast and we're getting radiological warnings!"

Apollo swore and ordered checks on the fleet's FTL status immediately as he ran out of the cockpit. He blurred past stunned passengers down to the cargo bay to make use of the archaic machinery he'd seen there earlier to try to "save their collective asses" as the President would so eloquently put it.

* * *

Odd as it seemed, Kara never thought that the end of the worlds would hurt so much. She had little of value in her life; it was the people she cared about that drove her to success. But now Karl was missing. Lee was dead. Dead. And the last things she'd said to him had been spiteful and rude. She stepped out when she found a minute to say a prayer to Artemis and Aphrodite care for Lee's soul. Somehow Manticore hadn't burned out any chance she'd had to believe in the Lords of Kobol, and Kara knew she'd need her faith in the days to come. Her hands shook as she lay underneath the Mark II Viper she was trying to repair enough to fly. With all the Mark VII's destroyed the pilots were being forced to use the older fighters on board for _Galactica's_ decommissioning. It'd been quickly discovered that the Mark II's and _Galactica_ were both immune to whatever the Cylons were using to shut down the rest of the Fleet.

Starbuck's focus drifted again to thoughts of Karl and Lee. Just then she heard someone clearing their throat right beside her Viper. Kara slid out from underneath to look straight into the face of Lee Adama. Stunned, Kara could barely think of anything to say. "I thought you were dead."

Lee shot back immediately. "Well, I thought you were in hack."

"It's - it's good to be wrong." She replied quietly.

Apollo smiled. "Well, you should be used to it by now."

Amused in spite of herself Starbuck had to smile in return. "Everyone has a skill," she said with good-natured self-deprecation.

Then, before she could think herself out of it she reached out and grabbed Lee in a fierce hug that he returned after only a moment's hesitation. "Sorry I was a frakking bitch earlier, Lee," she whispered.

Lee let her go and took a step back. He looked into her normally vibrant eyes and saw shadows within them. "I forgive you. We've got a lot of shit to talk about eventually. But for now, we need to talk about the new CAG."

Starbuck grimaced. "Yeah? Which dipstick did they find to be the illustrious new Commander of our Air Group?"

Apollo didn't miss a beat. "That would be me." He turned around and walked off with a smirk through the bustling hanger deck, leaving a gaping Starbuck in his wake.

* * *

Bill Adama was not a foolish man. _Galactica's_ Commanding Officer had desperately wanted to enact revenge on the Cylons for the genocide of nearly 20 billion lives, but that was no longer an option. He realized that now. As soon as the Mark II Vipers had repelled the squad of Raiders at the start of the fight Adama had fired up the old Battlestar's FTL drive and jumped them to Ragnar Anchorage to refuel and rearm. He'd been overjoyed to hear Lee was still alive only to be flustered beyond belief when his son, his _genetically engineered soldier _son had given up the fight to side with the President. Then he'd thought Lee dead, and Bill had had no time to mourn him before bustling into the space station to oversee the teams acquiring their supplies.

A short time later Bill was standing in _Galactica's_ CIC contemplating the mixed emotions running through him in waves of fire and ice. Lee was alive! He'd saved the ship he was on as well as thousands of other people. Adama couldn't be prouder. The Captain was now the highest-ranking pilot on board and had taken command as soon as he'd returned with the President and met with the XO, Colonel Tigh. The President. Bill couldn't believe the Secretary of Education was now in charge of the Colonial government, or the remnants of it, anyways. But he reluctantly had to admit she was right in her desire to flee the system. The temporary loss of his son had brought home the severity of the days events and the revelation that the Cylons had evolved into human form had forced him to confront the situation and see that leaving Colonial space was the best course of action if they were to survive. That was not a discussion he'd enjoyed. With a sigh the Commander pulled his thoughts back to the battle they were about to fight.

* * *

Lee Adama did not enjoy the responsibility of being CAG, but X5-318 knew it was exactly the situation he had been trained for and relished the opportunity to exercise his abilities in so many ways. The plan was simple: hold off the Cylons long enough for the civilian fleet to jump away and then follow them in _Galactica_, to parts unknown. Lt. Agathon had given up his seat on the Raptor he'd been crewing to save Gaius Baltar. That decision had allowed the doctor to reveal the Command Navigation Program he'd written for the Fleet had been the access point the Cylons had used to so easily defeat Colonial Defenses. With the CNP now purged from his Mark VII Apollo was free to fly a ship much more advanced than the ones Starbuck and the rest of the pilots were forced to use.

Apollo burst from the launch tubes and flew straight towards the incoming waves of Raiders. _Galactica_ had assigned them clear attack corridors to stay in and as soon as he'd cleared the old Battlestar she let loose with the heavy batteries, firing off round after round of kinetic energy weapons towards the Raiders and the two Basestars they confronted. Apollo keyed his wireless and gave the pilots last second instructions. "All Vipers, this is Apollo. Stick close to your wingman and don't get too far from _Galactica_. We're here to keep the heat off long enough for them to get the civies away and then we're out of here too. Good hunting. Starbuck, I've got lead."

Closing in on the Raiders he thumbed the trigger on his Viper's triple cannons and let loose, catching a pair of Raiders before the formation managed to shift and break apart. He yanked the stick to turn into a viscous barrel roll as he targeted the Raiders he'd take out next. Apollo came up fast on their tails, Starbuck right behind. He fired a steady stream of rounds at the Cylon catching it where the wing met the body of the craft. Similarly Starbuck's target exploded and the pair dove away for more targets to face.

* * *

For a moment, Starbuck almost felt guilty for feeling as good as she did. Only a moment though, as she flipped her Viper end for end and destroyed the Raider that had been sneaking up on her and Apollo. He was less than a split second behind as they rocketed off in a new direction. She still couldn't believe it. Nobody had **ever** been able to keep up with Starbuck in the cockpit. She'd known Apollo was good, but having never flown with the Captain hadn't a clue he was almost as good as she was. G_ods_, she thought to herself. _Lee would be a __**monster**__ if he was X5. _

The pair swooped and slashed throughout the battle, shattering any formation the Raiders tried to form and picking off more than a few lining up for kill shots on other Vipers. They were a thing of beauty; the sun god and the star buck single-handedly keeping the Colonial fighters from being over-whelmed. Before Starbuck knew it Petty Officer Dualla's soft voice come over the wireless.

"All fighters _Galactica_, the last civilian ship is away, return home immediately. Combat landings are authorized. Repeat, all fighters _Galactica_, come on home."

* * *

Captain Adama stood outside his father's office after the memorial service had ended. 20 billion souls lost; humanity's continued survival rested in the hands of just fifty thousand refugees. His father had spoken passionately, promising to find the Fleet a new home: Earth. Apollo did not believe his dad knew Earth's location, or even believed in its existence. Both men were firm atheists and the legend of the Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol was nothing but a myth in Lee's opinion. As he stood outside the office listening to his father's meeting with Laura Roslin, it became clear why his father had lied as he admitted his reasoning to the President. The Fleet needed hope. They needed a goal. The idea of Earth gave that to them, and eventually the Fleet would have to find another habitable planet.

As tired as she looked, Roslin still managed a smile for "Captain Apollo" as she left the commander's office. Lee walked in as she left and stood before his father. Bill Adama looked tired in Lee's eyes, tired and old. Lee was still mad at him, but he couldn't help the wave of pity he felt for his father having been thrust into the position of safeguarding the remnants of humanity. It was a burden 318 would never want, and he did not envy the Commander and the President. Still, he knew he could help. Manticore was gone. His mission was a cooling cloud of debris floating in orbit over Virgon. 318 needed to devote himself to a new cause. Supporting the president and helping to guide his pilots was the best he could come up with for now.

"Dad," Lee began softly. "I'm gonna be honest. I'm still mad at you. I haven't forgiven you yet, for a lot of things. But right now that's not important. I just wanted to let you know I'm here for you, and the Fleet, in whatever way you need me. Manticore trained me for a lot of situations and I can get a lot more done than anybody else in the Fleet."

With closed eyes his dad said simply. "Thank you, Lee."

He stood and opened the eyes that were so like Lee's own. "It's going to be hard work, Captain, but if the Fleet sticks together, I think we can make it. I…" he faltered for a second. "I assume we are keeping your status confidential for now?"

Lee nodded shortly. "For the foreseeable future. We just found out the Cylons look like us, sir. That'll get out before too long. I don't think the people would react very well to the existence of a super-soldier with feline DNA in their midst as well."

Apollo turned to take his leave and paused. "Dad, I only had my emergency med stash with me when I left _Atlantia_. That means I've only got enough pills to keep my barcode suppressed for another two, two and a half months, tops. I'm gonna need to explain that."


	5. Any Color You Like

AN: This chapter covers the first few episodes of season 1. I've mixed a few events around and you'll see I changed some events as well.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Any Color You Like **

Helo walked through the forests of Caprica for three days before the Cylons closed in. The Raptor pilot had to maintain a steady pace since he'd stayed behind on the planet. The signs of atmospheric changes from the nuclear blasts were not yet apparent, but Helo could smell the poisons drifting through the atmosphere when the wind blew past. Karl's enhanced hearing picked up the metallic clanking of four Centurions minutes before they were visible through the trees. The X5 ducked beneath a fallen log while he created his plan of attack. Helo had the pilot's standard issue sidearm and two extra clips in the survival kit he'd taken with him. The bullets would not be able to do much damage to the Centurions heavy armor plating, he knew, so any shots taken would need to be precise.

Precision had never been Karl's problem. X5-384 had been at the top of his unit in weapons and ordinance before he and Kara had fled Manticore. Helo knew those skills would undoubtedly be needed some day so he'd kept up with target practice in the years he and his sister were on the run. The Cylons closed within fifteen yards before Helo made his move. Jumping to his feet he quickly fired off a series of bullets that struck the first Centurion in its eye plate, knocking it out of commission. He shifted his aim and fired at the next, severing through the solid neck joint with a burst of shrapnel.

Not giving the remaining two Cylons a chance to load their gun hands, Helo blurred towards the pair and stopped in the space between them. As the Centurions both aimed to shoot Helo gathered his strength and leapt straight up in the air, catching the branch twenty feet above his head easily. Below him, the two Centurions destroyed themselves as their target suddenly disappeared before they could abort firing. Helo dropped back to the ground and checked his watch. Five seconds. Too slow; if there had been more Centurions he'd have never been able to pull a stunt like that.

* * *

The fleet had been running for a week and a half, and the CAG could see the fatigue affecting both his pilots and the deck crew. It was going to get them killed; new pilots were desperately needed to the severely over-worked alert-status pilots. It had not helped that the first five days of their exodus from the Colonies had been a constant running battle with the Cylons. Every 33 minutes Raiders and Basestars would jump in to combat range requiring the _Galactica_ and it's Vipers kept them at bay until the civilian vessels could engage their FTL's jump themselves.

After the third day of being on a continuous condition one, the lack of sleep had begun to severely impact the pilots and crew of _Galactica_. Even Apollo started to feel the effects. For the first time in his life the X5 wished he'd been cursed with shark DNA. 318 had been on a number of missions for Manticore that required him to stay awake for days at a time- his record was nine days- but he'd never been in the continuous stop/go mode the Cylons were forcing on them. He'd made the decision to put the pilots on stims, and other than a suspiciously mistrusting Starbuck all had gladly accepted the pills to keep them alert. Luckily for the fleet the source of the Cylons tracking was discovered after the fifth day, and Apollo and Starbuck destroyed the hijacked _Olympic Carrier_ together.

The pilots were still getting back up to speed from the week of sleep deprivation, leaving Captain Adama working overtime to aide coordinating several operations. With the recent sabotage of _Galactica's_ water tanks and subsequent discovery of ice to refill them, they were facing a labor shortage. Today he and a small group were heading over to the prison ship _Astral Queen_ in an effort to recruit the prisoners for the manual labor needed to harvest and process the ice. Apollo had been requested specifically by the President to head the operation.

Captain Adama turned from the bustling scene of the deck hands, nodding as he passed Chief Tyrol, and walked towards the Raptor the rest of his team were loading. Joining Apollo on the _Astral Queen_ were the President's Aide Billy Keikeya, Petty Officer Dualla, and Specialist Cally. Apollo chose to pilot the Raptor himself and quickly launched from _Galactica_ and headed towards the prison ship.

An hour later Apollo was ready to label the mission an unequivocal failure. The Sagittaron terrorist Tom Zarek was a prisoner on board and as soon as the _Galactica's_ offer of trading labor for credits towards freedom was announced he declared that none of his men would participate. Apollo stared at the man for a moment before calling for him to be brought forward for a meeting. Captain Adama knew the man was the one who held the power, now. Before he could react Zarek gave a signal and a number of the crew and prisoners who then produced weapons and seized Apollo and his team.

Apollo had to snarl at the embarrassment of being ambushed by a group of Ordinaries. Zarek restrained the captain and took him to the control room with minimal guard. That was his first mistake.

* * *

It was an hour before Helo noticed something was wrong with Sharon. Two days after encountering the first group of Centurions Helo was methodically taking out another team of the chrome plated machines when a beautiful blonde woman approached the spot he'd taken shelter in. She moved with a grace that nearly matched that of an X5. Helo's hackles had risen the second she walked forward through the destruction. The woman crouched in front of Helo and whispered "Are you alive?" as she leaned in to kiss him. Before he could so much as raise his gun the woman's chest exploded, and Sharon appeared out of the blue and grabbed his hand, dragging him away from the remaining Centurions.

That was three days ago. At first Karl was simply too shocked over seeing Boomer again to realize anything was wrong or different, but after they'd left the Cylons far behind he noticed the first sign something was wrong. Sharon smelled… different. Not _unlike_ Sharon, really. Helo couldn't put his finger on it. It was almost as if she smelled… new. And not the new car air freshener kind of smell but a new to this world kind of thing. As if she'd never been on board _Galactica_. Raptor cockpit's all had a certain smell that clung to those inside them, Helo had long ago noticed, and this Sharon didn't have a whiff of it. Physically, she was his Sharon to a T. Tall, dark hair, dark worried eyes. But the nose caught things the eyes did not. X5's didn't have super noses, by any means, but Helo's sense of smell was still twice as strong as a normal human's was. It was strong enough to tell him one thing: this woman was not Sharon Valerii.

That thought led him back to the strange woman in the forest. Why had the Cylons let her walk straight through their ranks? The only reasons Helo could think of were that she worked for the toasters… or she was one herself. _Oh, Gods,_ Helo thought to himself. _That would explain how they ripped our defenses apart._

Karl looked over at the beautiful face he'd known for years.

_Boomer is a Cylon.

* * *

_

"We will not release your son and the others, Commander," Zarek spoke into the wireless. "until you and Roslin have handed in your resignations and called for new elections. The people deserve a voice in the government and you are not our choice."

Apollo had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he sat on the floor of the Astral Queen's control room. Zarek had been spouting off at everybody in the Gods damned fleet for the past half hour demanding the resignation of the President. Either the man was an idiot for thinking his father would bow to his demands or he **wanted** the marines to storm the ship. Apollo was leaning towards the latyer being the course Zarek was hoping for; bloodshed might force the President to resign in shame. 318 had little intention of letting that happen. The restraints the men had placed him in were barely strong enough to hold a regular man. Lee Adama was anything but ordinary.

A scream broke through the air from back where the other members of Galactica were being held. Cally, locked in one of the prisoners cells, was bleeding as a towering inmate stood over her. Zarek responded immediately. "What the frak is going on in here? I told you not to touch the prisoners until we had our deal!" he bellowed. _Mistake number two: admitting you want to kill us_, Apollo thought grimly.

"Do I need to shoot the both of you? I don't want this girl causing problems, and maybe you can't take orders, Smitty." Zarek raised the pistol he held towards Cally.

To her credit, Cally managed to stand up and sneer towards the terrorist and bite out a "Frak you! Adama's gonna snap your neck like a twig!"

Zarek had barely finished laughing over the fiery young woman when Apollo responded from beside him. "Sounds like the woman's got the right idea, Tom." Before the smile could fade from his face, 318 yanked free from his restraints, grabbed Zarek's head in his hands and gave it a casual twist. The snap of Zarek's neck was quickly lost in the confusion when Apollo snatched the gun from Tom's lifeless fingers and fired a bullet straight into the forehead of Cally's tormentor.

* * *

Starbuck loved strike missions. Her status as a pliot kept her from participating in most. _Should've joined the damn marines_ she thought as her team burned through the hull of the _Astral Queen. _Starbuck was the best shot in the fleet with Helo gone. The thought of her dead brother made Kara twitch before she pushed the memory away to focus on her task. Apollo and his team had gone and gotten themselves taken hostage and Starbuck was looking forward to saving the CAG's ass.

The marine squad crept through the ship towards the prison hold just as a single shot rang through the metal corridor. Forgoing stealth Starbuck burst into the room gun held ready only to come on to a scene of complete disarray. Zarek was lying on the floor at Lee's feet, the freed prisoners were staring at him in shock. She took in the sight and noted the dead crewman slumped over by Cally before remembering her mission. "Secure the prisoners," she ordered. Starbuck stomped over to Apollo, and hissed "What the frak happened here, Captain?"

Lee looked up at her with blank eyes she could've sworn were straight from a Manticore mask. "Zarek's man threatened Cally. He intended to let her die, so I killed him first and shot the other guy. Zarek wasn't going to give up until blood was spilled. I obliged him."

* * *

"There's someone else alive on Caprica!" Boomer laughed excitedly. It had been four days since she'd found him in the forest and the woman still acted like Sharon in every way. Karl had almost lost himself in the old banter the two had been so famous for on _Galactica_. They followed the signal into an abandoned city that seemed to have escaped falling victim to Cylon nukes. Karl waited a week before confronting "Sharon". The two had conveniently stumbled upon a fully stocked fall out shelter. Helo decided this was as good a time as any to get some answers.

"Sharon, I still can't believe you came back for me," he began. "How exactly did you sneak by the Chief and off of _Galactica_?" The split second hesitation was more than long enough for confirm Helo's suspicion.

"I told you, Helo. I couldn't just leave you here. I told the Chief he could either let me off or I'd blast through the launch tubes to get away."

"Still pretty stupid of you. You didn't know if I was still alive."

"I had hope. I didn't think you'd give up on me if I'd stayed behind," she said hesitantly.

Helo sighed heavily. "If I asked you, Sharon, would you tell me the truth?"

The woman frowned at him. "Tell you the truth? Of course, Helo. About anything."

"OK. Then how 'bout you tell me who exactly you are?"

Sharon laughed incredulously. "Did you hit your head or something, flyboy?"

Helo just looked at her and decided to just go for it. "You aren't Sharon. Not the Sharon I knew, anyways. See, I realized something a while back. That blonde woman? No way she could just walk through a group of Centurions and no way a human would work with the toasters. She was a Cylon. And so are you."

* * *

Sharon Valerii forgot to breathe for nearly a minute. She let out a heavy gasp. _How did he…?_ "Helo, I. I don't know what to say," she replied to the man numbly.

"Well, think carefully. What you say here will decide whether you walk out with me."

Sharon closed her eyes and gave in. Maybe if she told him everything he'd let her live. "Yes. Yes, Helo, I'm a Cylon." She raised her arms to look at her hands. "We evolved- for lack of a better word- into this form in order to infiltrate the Colonies."

Helo nodded shortly. "That's what I figured. What exactly is your mission right now?"

She laughed darkly. "You'll never believe it. The Cylons are very interested in procreation, Helo. They wanted you to impregnate me."

The pilot's mouth fell open in surprise for a moment before he visibly composed himself. "Right. So you were supposed to follow me around until we frakked?"

Sharon winced at his bluntness. "Basically. They wanted us to fall in love. That was my mission."

"What about the other Sharon? On _Galactica_?"

She didn't ask how he knew they were different. "She's a Cylon, too. She doesn't know it, though. Boomer's what we call a 'sleeper agent'. She'll be a normal girl one day, and then activated the next and do something Sharon would never even think of. I have all of her memories up to leaving you here on Caprica. In a twisted way, I am Sharon, too. And before you ask, there is no human Sharon."

Helo frowned at her answer. "How many Sharons are there?"

_God, way to hit all the right questions, _Sharon thought wonderingly. "Thousands," she replied simply. "There are only 12 different humanoid Cylon models. I'm number 8. The blonde woman is a 6. And if you remember that reporter on Galactica, Doral, he's a Cylon. Model number 5. He'll be the one to kill me for this."

* * *

Helo watched Sharon-_the Cylon_- as she told him about her people. For some reason he believed that she was telling him the truth. "Why are you telling me when I might do it myself? Assuming I don't kill you," Sharon's eyes flashed, and _Gods help me, can I kill her?_ "what happens next?"

There was a moment's pause before Sharon shrugged in defeat. "You're the one holding all the cards here, Helo. If you let me live I'll get you off this rock. I failed my mission. My handlers won't just let me come back, so I might as well keep you out of their hands. They won't be as… gentle as me. I want to help you."

Helo smirked. "What makes you think you'd be the one in charge, toaster-girl? I've been told I'm a regular tomcat in between the sheets."

Sharon laughed, and, for a second, things were almost as they'd been before Helo had found out she was a machine. He sighed and stretched his tall frame out on the floor of the fallout shelter. 384 was screaming at him to kill the frakking Cylon, but _Karl_ couldn't do it. He'd find no sleep tonight.

* * *

Apollo watched as Kara barked instructions at the new Viper recruits. The nuggets had been recruited from the civilian fleet to replace the pilots lost in a missile accident on the _Galactica_ a few days prior. The tragedy was just another in the story that was the end of humanity. He grimaced, aware his thoughts were drifting away from evaluating and towards grief he couldn't afford to lose himself in. Unfortunately Starbuck noticed the temporary break in his Manticore-issued calm expression and sauntered on over to him. She didn't speak, though, and after a moment Lee had to break the silence. "I don't envy you."

"Why's that, Apollo?" she replied warily.

He turned to look at his sole living friend. "Training the nuggets. You take people who've never sat in anything remotely like a Viper and show them how to live. Hot to fight. How to kill. I don't think I could do it."

Lee didn't know why he was speaking to Kara so openly. They'd been dancing around each other since the worlds had ended and Lee couldn't escape to a Battlestar where Zak Adama was only remembered in the abstract. But Starbuck had always been able to slip in under his Manticore forged shields. He shouldn't have been surprised. He was accepted as CAG now; he'd earned respect with his flying and already the story of snapping Tom Zarek's neck was making its way across the ship. Apollo's legend would grow while Lee Adama slipped further into the background. Maybe he wanted Kara to be the one to see Lee.

Once again Apollo was forced to pull his mind back to the present. _Gods_ he thought bitterly. _Enhanced brain and I still can't stop myself from brooding._ He focused back on Kara just as she opened her mouth to reply. "I hate it," she whispered, so quietly an Ordinary would have barely made it out. Kara was silent for another dozen heartbeats. Lee could see a series of emotions flicker through her mind. Abruptly, she spit out what she'd struggled to say.

"Zak failed basic flight. He failed, and I passed him anyways."

Lee stared at the woman standing there, fear as evident on her face as it was foreign. He'd never seen that look on Starbuck before.

"I passed him… because I loved him. And I got him killed."

Lee swallowed, trying to formulate a coherent reply. His memory flashed back on Zak's crash, Kara's devastation, Lee's utter inability at hiding behind his super-soldier persona. And finally, the grief and sorrow on his father's face as he'd buried one son just to lose the other to rage and blame. The visions of the past whirled through Lee's mind in a second. He knew why Kara had told him. She wanted absolution. She wanted him to hate her, too. She needed to know she hadn't killed her fiancée the same moment she wanted to know that she'd failed to keep him safe. Lee didn't know what Kara Thrace wanted from him.

Starbuck may have been expecting damnation but Kara needed forgiveness. Lee pulled her close and whispered into her hair. "It wasn't your fault, Kara."


	6. Build Me a Woman

AN: The different scenes here vary a lot in tone. I tried to write a bit of light-hearted stuff because there won't be any of it for the foreseeable future. Also, moderate adult content warning. .

* * *

**Chapter 5: Build Me a Woman**

Karl Agathon was a frakking idiot. That thought passed through his head constantly as he scanned the woods around him. Sharon walked silently by his side, slightly ahead so he could "keep an eye on her". Yeah, right. Helo had no clue why he was still with the Cylon. He didn't trust her. He didn't. _Frak!_ Helo swore to himself. _What the hell am I doing?_ Manticore had trained him not to trust anybody outside of his unit and his command. But that's what he was doing. He was letting himself be led across the planet by a Cylon, and he hated it. He hated her. The Sharon he'd known, the Sharon he'd _loved_, was a lie.

The pair had spent a few days in the fallout shelter while Helo figured out their next move. Sharon had insisted that the others wouldn't ambush them while still in their "love nest" so Helo reluctantly agreed to stay put. Karl determined that with Cylons swarming all over the city the best idea would be to get the frak out, and quick. The X5 told Sharon they'd be heading to Delphi, a city a good ways away through more of Caprica's lovely woods. Helo hated the woods.

"Sharon, let's stop for a minute. We need to take more anti-radiation meds." Interestingly enough the humanoid Cylons were susceptible to radiation as well, though not nearly to the point that humans were. But then, neither was Helo. If the Cylon had noticed he wasn't taking the meds as often as a normal man would, she wasn't saying anything.

"'Helo?" Sharon's voice disrupted his thoughts. "When did you get a tattoo?"

Karl stiffened and slapped a hand over the nape of his neck. His barcode was coming back. He and Kara had been using a laser to rid it every month on the dot, and he was over a week overdue. _Frak_.

He looked over at Sharon and decided to play it off. "You like my ink, Sharon? Got it a bit before _Galactica's_ decommissioning ceremony."

The woman frowned. "Really? I've been staring at the back of your neck for nearly two weeks now, and I only just saw something the other day. It's almost like it's emerging from your skin."

* * *

For a minute, Helo just stared at her, swallowing nervously. Sharon didn't understand it. What was with that tattoo? It obviously was not normal; she knew that. Granted it looked good on him- _Everything looks good on him_, a small voice whispered- but it didn't seem very Helo. And a barcode? "331789934384," she read aloud. Helo froze completely beside her. "What does that mean?"

* * *

Starbuck laughed uproariously at the embarrassed look on Apollo's face. She'd finally managed to get him down to the rec room. They were in the middle of a game of Triad with Boomer, Hot Dog, and Racetrack. The minute the CAG had entered the room she'd given the signal and lead the entire room in a standing ovation for the man finally joining them in a bit of downtime. Fifteen minutes later Lee was still red in the face and Starbuck was teasing him to within an inch of his life.

"Hey Apollo," she called. "I heard a rumor you and Cally spent a little time in the Chief's office down on the flight deck. Care to comment?"

The normally unflappable man's face turned red as he flinched. "It's not what it looked like!" He whined.

"Oh, yeah, then what exactly happened, flyboy?" Boomer leered.

"Cally _ambushed_ me!" Starbuck's jaw dropped at Apollo's petulant whine. "She told me there were parts for my Viper in there and the next thing I know she's shoving her hands under my tanks and trying to eat my face!"

Racetrack slapped the table as she laughed at her CAG. "Oh Gods, Apollo, have you never slept with a woman? You make it sound like a nightmare!"

Lee's pout turned into a glare he shot the pilot's way. "Just for that, Racetrack, I'm giving you doubles for the rest of the week."

"Ah, come on, Lee," Starbuck poked her friend in the side. "There's no rank here, so you can't punish your minions until later. So answer the woman's question, you frakker."

"See, this is what I get for hiding in my office for two weeks straight. I miss the planning for the "Let's Tease the CAG Day". He sighed in resignation. "Don't get me wrong, Cally's great. But she's been all over me since the _Astral Queen_ and I can't get away. Save the woman's life and she insists I bear her children! Do not want."

They knew his story was an exaggeration but she didn't doubt that Cally might make a move on Lee. Kara laughed again as Lee finally smiled. _He doesn't do that nearly enough_, she thought to herself. _It's a good look for him_. "Alright, alright, now that we've established Apollo's desirability and insulted his masculinity let's get back to the game. It's been too long since I've kicked your ass at Triad, Lee."

"Too long? Does that include the winning streak I've got against you, Kara? Don't think I've forgotten," he smirked.

Hot Dog's mouth dropped open. "You've got a _winning streak_ against _Starbuck_?! How the frak did you manage that? I've never seen anybody beat her more than twice in a night."

Lee looked over at the woman and his smirk morphed into a predatory grin. "Five times. That's the number of times I've fleeced 'Starbuck' here. She wouldn't play with me at all the last three months we were on Caprica together. Too worried I'd ruin her reputation as top dog."

Starbuck narrowed her eyes and hissed. "Let's see you put your cubits where your mouth is, big shot."

Fifteen minutes later Apollo received his second round of applause of the night when he revealed his final hand. "Prince high red beats your three on the run, Starbuck, and that makes six times I've kicked your ass now."

Kara's glare would've cowed any other man but it only made Lee Adama grin brighter. "Apollo was a God of many talents, Kara. You seem to forget I've got the name for a reason."

"Enjoy your reign, _my Lord_," she snarled half-seriously. "I'll be back on top before you know it."

Lee shot her a look so filthy it sent shivers down her spine. "Oh, on top?" he purred and leaned in close. "Is that how Kara Thrace likes it? Might have to test that out someday."

Apollo stood up and walked out amongst the shrieks and laughs as Starbuck wondered when exactly she'd let Lee get so far under her skin.

* * *

For the first time in his entire life, Karl Agathon, Helo, X5-384, could think of nothing to say. As a soldier he'd learned early on when to hold his tongue, but the man always had something to say. Always, until now. His mouth opened and closed against his will; he made no sounds save for a panicked grunt. He composed himself and tried again to say something, anything, when Sharon snapped her head up and swore.

"Helo, get down!"

She shoved him out of the way as a team of Centurions closed in through the forest. Frak! He'd been so absorbed in Sharon and his barcode he'd missed the toasters stomping right up next to them. Shoving aside his anxieties Helo ripped his sidearm from it's holster and immediately fired at the closest Cylon. As it fell he stood up and turned towards the next target. Again and again he fired, taking out Centurion after Centurion. He was aware of Sharon's presence behind him, and wondered if this was when trusting her would get him killed.

The gun clicked empty as Helo spent the last round. The last spare clip was in his pack which was now 15 feet away. Helo would never reach it in time. The remaining two toasters advanced on him as he settled into a fighting stance. There was no chance he'd be able to take them down unarmed, but there was no frakking way 384 was going to let them kill or capture him without a fight. Fighting was all he had now.

"STOP." The command came from Sharon. She'd finally spoken up. Helo felt his frustration and rage at the situation rise with her betrayal. _Such a frakking idiot, Karl. _Then, without warning Sharon's hand rose and she fired five shots in quick succession at each Centurion before grabbing his hand and running. "Let's move it, soldier!" She barked. "They'll resurrect back at the base and tell them what just happened, we need to get gone, now!"

The adrenaline coursed through his body as the pair fled through the forest. Karl was running as fast as he could without blurring, Sharon barely keeping up at his side. An hour later they entered an empty barn on the outskirts of a town. Karl stalked through the structure looking for all points of entry and spots to hide. Sharon was panting lightly beside him. "Gods Helo, you ever get tired?"

Without warning Helo snapped. The X5 let out a vicious snarl and grabbed Sharon roughly by the shoulders. "Enough. Questions," he growled at the Cylon before pulling her close. Helo smashed his lips against hers, claiming her mouth in a violent kiss that was all teeth and tongue and dominance. Everything he'd felt for the past three weeks was pouring out of him and the guttural moan that escaped Sharon's throat only fueled the fire. Gripping her tightly he slammed the woman's body backwards through the door behind her, sending shards of wood flying everywhere. The brutality of the action would've damaged Sharon without the Cylon strength that allowed Karl to let loose with his own.

Sharon stumbled back into the room and barely had time to gasp before Helo's hands were on her flight suit's zipper, yanking it down and ripping off her regulation tanks. Sharon moaned as her breasts were exposed to the cool air and she moved forward to strip Helo as well. Impatience flooded through him alongside another wave of lust and rage. He grabbed Sharon's wrists in one hand and shoved them away with a growl and tore his own clothing off. Gripping her waist hard enough to bruise he moved in, kissing and biting until he made the Cylon bleed.

Karl shoved her to the ground, spurred on by the dark lust reflected back at him in Sharon's eyes. He shifted his hands, one to her back and the other wrapped loosely around her throat as he slammed inside of her. Sharon cried out at the sudden intrusion and Helo cut off her broken moans as he shoved his tongue back into her mouth. He picked up a brutal rhythm, snapping his hips forward as hard and deep as possible. Helo wanted this to hurt; wanted Sharon to feel him for days. Wordlessly she assented and wrapped her legs around Helo's waist. Sharon's hands came up and raked his back ferociously with her nails as she bucked beneath him.

He broke the kiss and pulled back enough to stare into her eyes. "_I trusted you_," he growled as his thrusts grew even stronger and punishing with the new position. "_I got stranded on this Gods-forsaken planet for you. I frakking _**loved**_ you!"_

Sharon screamed and tightened beneath him, and Helo followed her over the edge, biting her shoulder until blood filled his mouth. Riding out the aftershocks Karl stilled before pulling away. Rage and lust satiated, he looked down at the face of the woman that affected him so greatly feeling emptier than he'd ever imagined one could. "I hate you Sharon," he whispered, before dropping down and pulling her close.

Karl closed his eyes as the bright red light of Sharon's spine faded to nothing.

* * *

A few days after Apollo's triumph in the rec room, Boomer and Crashdown stuck gold discovering an asteroid filled with Tyllium. Tyllium, the main component to the fleet's fuel, had been running low since the Cylons had relentlessly pursued them using the _Olympic Carrier._ Unfortunately for the fleet, a Cylon base was situated directly on top of that asteroid. Their situation was dire enough that Commander Adama ordered Starbuck to prepare a plan of attack. Despite not being CAG it was not out of the ordinary for the Commander to ask Lieutenant Thrace to take lead on an attack plan instead of Apollo. The captain was a very capable tactician, he knew, but when a plan required a flare of the dramatic and something out of the box, Starbuck was the officer to call on.

The upcoming raid was certainly not possible with conventional measures- if the Cylons saw _Galactica_ coming too early they could blow the asteroid and leave the fleet with no Tyllium. The night before they were set to launch Lee found himself unable to sleep and wandered on down to the flight deck. After a time he heard the distinctive footfalls of his father behind him as the older man sat beside him.

For a minute neither spoke, simply looking out at the deserted Vipers and Raptors on the floor beneath them. His father broke the silence. "I used to have trouble sleeping before a big op, too, son. I know you don't exactly need rest as much as the others, though. You feelin' a bit nervous?"

"A little, actually," Lee admitted. "Not sure why, though. Kara's plan is sound and Gods know we've got the piloting situation covered between the two of us and the rest of the squad. We shouldn't have a problem."

"Maybe it's the stakes," Dad replied softly. 'First time since the end of the worlds we've had no choice but to succeed or die."

That actually made Lee smile. "Weirdly enough, Dad, that actually makes me feel better. All that Manticore training; I'm a sucker for duty."

The elder Adama flinched slightly at the mention of the facility that had taken Lee from him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a beat up old lighter. "I want you to have this, son. It belonged to your grandfather. He took it with him every case he tried, and when he passed it on to me I had it with me in the CIC every time I went through the doors. It's good luck. Take it."

He pressed the lighter into Lee's hand and the younger Adama rubbed his fingers over the faded etching of _Joseph Adama_ on its side. Lee knew he and his father hadn't repaired their fractured relationship yet. They'd reached an understanding about Zak, finally, but there were many issues that lay unaddressed. Giving him the lighter meant that his father trusted him, in spite of all those disputes. 'Dad," he said, as his father began to stand. "I'll bring it back."

Dad smiled. "You better, or I'll kick your ass. It's a good lighter."

He started to turn away when Apollo called out "Commander," shifting into his role of CAG to his commanding officer.

"Yes, Captain?" the commander responded in kind.

"Dr. Baltar had no idea where to hit the base. He made a complete guess. He guessed right, or I'd have spoken up earlier, but I thought you should know. I don't trust him, sir."

"Me either," Adama admitted tightly. "Keep an eye on him Captain."

* * *

Starbuck watched the Old Man walk out of the flight deck before she came in and took his place besides Apollo. Lee did not seem surprised to see her there, and turned toward Kara, waiting for her to speak.

"Always got extra energy before a mission," she told him. "Karl was always there to get me to burn off some steam. Kind of restless without him."

She didn't say that she missed the other man, but she knew Lee understood that. Almost a month and a half ago her brother had been sitting in this very spot with Kara, and now he'd been dead for nearly that long. Kara kept herself busy enough, so that she didn't have time to dwell on his death often, but the speed and efficiency the X5 was known for in all areas made complete repression impossible. His face was there every morning when Kara woke up, grinning wide and sucking on a lollipop as he listened to Kara's boasting and made eyes at the other pilots in the room. She wasn't sure if that would ever fade. She wasn't sure she wanted it to; in spite of the pain it brought her.

"We don't need sleep though, do we Apollo? We're practically super-soldiers," she quipped, mocking her own identity and missing her wingman's slight flinch at the term.

"Can I be King of the Super-Soldiers?" he quipped back. "I've been told I'd look good with a crown."

Starbuck snorted. "A crown, Apollo? You sure they weren't telling you you'd make a good… queen?"

Lee laughed huskily beside her and turned his gaze to stare at Kara. With a jolt she realized it was the same dark look he'd given her the other night and against her will her heartbeat quickened. "I didn't tell you what my title was, Kara." He leaned in close and she felt his breath on her neck. "And now you'll never know why."

Once again, Lee frakking Adama had managed to fluster Kara. She fought hard to repress a shiver as Apollo got up and left her alone on the deck.

* * *

Lee Adama had no idea what he was doing, Apollo thought as he strapped on his helmet. Last night he'd hit on Kara pretty obviously, for the second time, and he had no idea why. For frak's sake he'd _sniffed her_ and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Luckily Kara hadn't noticed. Yeah he was attracted to her; who wasn't? But Kara was Zak's fiancée, going there would be a bad idea for reasons that only began to start with that. Lee was her superior officer. Lee was emotionally closed off. His X5 status required him to keep a certain part of himself away from the Ordinary world. Starbuck had the tendency to draw the repressed parts of 318 out into the open, and he had to be careful. Anybody who got to close to Kara Thrace would get burned.

Apollo tuned back in to the world as Dee's voice announced the timetable for the mission. He and a half-squad of Vipers were stashed underneath a break away compartment on a freighter acting as bait for the Cylons while Starbuck's group launched from Galactica. Her task was to engage and draw them away from the target; giving the hidden Vipers the opportunity to pounce at a depleted Raider defense and blow the base as quick as possible.

The plan began according to design and soon Apollo and his group were disengaging from the freighter to swoop down on the remaining Raiders. There were more than expected, but still enough to handle. Lee thumbed his trigger and pulled up on the stick in a steep dive that allowed him to catch two Raiders in the same pass. He watched several others explode as the Vipers fired. Apollo headed towards Kat as he gained a tail, and saw she was engaged with three Raiders of her own. He activated his comm. "Kat, Apollo, switch it up and flip her around to go low on my mark… mark." At the signal Kat immediately flipped her Viper end for end with the speed only a Viper could manage. She flew straight towards the captain and at the last second yanked her fighter down to miss his, firing at the trailing Raider while Apollo's triple canon's ate through two of Kat's tails and nicked the third. Finishing it off he activated his comm again and called for the first attack run. Half the fighters joined him and dived towards the asteroid base. They nimbly dodged the base's defensive batteries and took aim with their missiles. At the last second the projectiles jerked off target, indicating a weapons jam.

"_Galactica_, Apollo. The base has sensor jammers, we're not gonna blow it unless we're sitting in the base's lap." He watched a Viper explode to his right. "We're getting chewed up out here."

"Apollo, Starbuck," his wingman's voice echoed through the comm. "I'll head on over and see what I can do."

"No, Starbuck, stay where you are. There's too many Raiders near _Galactica_, you need to stay put." He paused for a moment as his eyes scanned the base. "I see an access tunnel. I don't know where it goes but I'm gonna give it a shot."

Apollo ignored Starbuck's protestations in his earpiece, and dove into the dark corridor. As he rocketed down the long tunnel, Apollo knew this was a stupid idea, but it was probably the best shot they had at knocking out that base without losing half of _Galactica's_ fighter wing. Almost too fast the tunnel swung vertical forcing Apollo to skim the bottom as he stutter-stopped his engines and turned to head up at full speed.

After a minute he burst out of the tunnel and found himself situated within eyesight of his target. Apollo armed his missiles and sped up towards the innocuous looking building and pressed down on the trigger before snapping away from the asteroid in the next second. The explosion ripped through the Cylon's mining operation as the captain flew overhead.

"_Galactica_, this is Apollo. Mission accomplished. Repeat, mission accomplished."

Apollo flew back to the old Battlestar as Kara's squad finished off the last of the Raiders. Somehow one had completely malfunctioned in the middle of the fight and had been drifting impotently on the edges of the engagement. As Apollo listened Starbuck successfully managed to convince the Commander to take it in for study. He landed to thunderous cheers and shouts of congratulations, and was quickly given a Victory Cigar from Starbuck with a whispered "you earned it". He grinned and replied, "Hey, you're the one who came away with a major party favor, 'Buck."

A call for "attention on deck!" forced all to leap to attention, just long enough for Commander Adama to wave his hand and release them with an "at ease". He approached Apollo who stood with the cigar already lit.

"Congratulations, Captain," the elder Adama began. "Thanks to your team and Starbuck's plan we've got enough Tyllium for years now."

Apollo smiled openly- something he realized later hadn't happen in years- and accepted the praise. "Thank you, sir."

The Commander smiled and turned to leave. "Hey, Dad!" Lee called. He threw Joseph Adama's lighter back to the Old Man. "Told you I'd bring it back."

Pocketing the old keepsake Commander Adama resumed his walk back to the CIC and said just quiet enough he knew Lee could still here hear him. "Never doubted you for a second, Lee."

Apollo turned back towards the crowd and continued to celebrate. For once he deserved to cut loose, he thought. Lee didn't notice Kara slip out of the hanger deck, scowl on her face growing every step of he way.


	7. Don't Let Them See Me Like This

AN: Here continues my blatant disregard for the timeline of season 1. Oops. I borrowed HEAVILY from quotes used in "Flesh and Bone" but changed a few things to fit the story and created some introspections that hopefully give them new meaning. We'll see if it works or not. Please let me know.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Don't Let Them See Me Like This**

Starbuck was tired and aggravated. She'd been spending all her free time since the raid on the captured Cylon Raider. Something in the machine had died during the fight, giving the Colonials a chance to take it in and get a better understanding of the craft's capabilities. 'Died' really was the correct term, Kara mused to herself as she walked down to the flight deck. She and Chief Tyrol had cut into the Raider to find a mass of biological tissue, including what looked like a biomechanical brain and tendons. The Raider appeared to be nearly as alive as the humanoid model Cylons Starbuck had just found out about. Manticore didn't have a monopoly on creating things that **looked** human anymore.

Kara knew why the Commander had given her this mission. She had a… special talent for getting people to admit things they wouldn't normally. It was a skill she'd honed in the years since she'd left Manticore as a way to figure out if she could trust those around her. It'd been a week since the President had made the announcement that the Cylons could now appear human, and suspicion and fear had been skyrocketing ever since. Roslin and the Commander had been sitting on the information since the day of the attacks. After Lee had stopped a bomb-strapped humanoid Cylon from infiltrating the Galactica it'd been decided to leak the information. Kara knew it was likely there was another Cylon on board; one who'd helped the copy of Aaron Doral get as far as he had.

She stepped off Raptor and walked out towards the spot the civilian ship was keeping their Cylon prisoner. Adama had encountered one named Leobon Conroy back at Ragnar Anchorage and the machine on board was a copy of that same model. She entered the room and sat down, Manticore mask firmly in place. She wasn't surprised so few had suspected the Cylons could appear human. Looking at the man across from her, she could see no sign he was not a man. He looked normal. He sweated. He even smelled human. Leobon was an average sized being, with sandy blonde hair and a face that suggested he'd seen a lot in his lifetime. His eyes were deep and dark and gave the impression he was looking at something beyond what was right in front of him. The overall impression was unsettling, but Kara thought that if he'd been human she might have trusted him.

Deciding to get straight to the point, Kara began asking questions. "What is your mission?"

Leobon smiled at her. "My mission? I don't want to tell you."

"How many other Cylons are there in the fleet?"

"A few. None. I'm not sure."

"You either tell me or we rip your robotic body apart."

Again Leobon smiled. "I'm not afraid of dying. I have a soul. When this body dies my consciousness will transfer into another."

Despite noting the new, disturbing, information Kara snarled, already fed up. "This is useless. Guard, open the door, I'm leaving. See if the Cylon feels like talking after he's been softened up."

She moved to exit the room and heard him call out to her. "Are you Lieutenant Starbuck?" She froze, and Leobon began to laugh gleefully. "I knew it; I knew it was you. I saw that you would come to me. God told me this would happen."

"God? What does a machine know about God?"

"I have a soul. I see patterns. I know you. You were born to a human who believed suffering was good for the soul, so you suffered. Your life is a testament to pain. Injuries. Accidents. Some inflicted upon others, others inflicted upon yourself. It surrounds you like a bubble. But it's not real, it's just... It's just something they put in your head. It's something that you want to believe because it means you're the problem, not the world that you live in. You want to believe it because it means that you're bad luck. You're like a cancer that needs to be removed. Because you hear that voice every day and you want them to be right."

She narrowed her eyes at the man across from her. What did he know of her? His story certainly sounded like Manticore, but there was no way the Cylons could know Kara was not human. All his information was public record. When Kara and Karl had forged the records to enter the Academy she had decided that Kara Thrace had been born to an abusive ex-military woman. The lie was close enough in essence to 462's own childhood at Manticore so her actions would need to be les guarded than otherwise. 462 was damaged goods and so was Kara.

She glared down at the man. "What game are you playing, Cylon?"

"No game. And just because I want to talk to you I'll tell you my mission. Sabotage. I planted a nuclear warhead on one of the ships in the fleet."

Kara glanced at one of the guards and nodded, indicating he should report the news to the Commander. Even if Leobon was lying they couldn't afford not to take this threat seriously. She lashed out with a strike to Leobon's face. "Where is the warhead? When is it set to go off?"

Once again Leobon just smiled. "Stay a while, and maybe I'll tell you."

Kara laughed humorlessly. "I think we'll do this my way, instead."

Without warning the guard standing next to Leobon's right lashed out, striking him in the same spot Starbuck had hit earlier. Then the guard to his left struck; knocking the Cylon's head back the other way. Momentarily stunned, he reached up as far as he could with his chained hands and wiped the blood from his mouth. The men didn't give him any time to recover though; smashing into him again and again with their fists.

After Leobon's eyes began to dull from the pain Starbuck raised her hand signaling a stop. "Now, if you were human," she began. "you'd be just about ready to start offering up some false information about the location of the nuke. Some tiny thing that might get you a reward and maybe spare you a few minutes of this. But then I keep forgetting, you're not human. You're a machine."

"I am more than you could ever imagine," Leobon whispered. "I am God."

Starbuck couldn't hold back her laughter even if she wanted to. "I'm sorry, you're God? Wow... nice to meet you. That's good, that's good. We'll give you a couple of minutes for that."

He smiled weakly. "It's funny, isn't it? We're all God, Starbuck. All of us. I see the love that binds all living things together."

"Love? You don't even know what the word means." _Neither do you 462_, a voice whispered in her ear.

"I know that God loved you more than all other living creatures and you repaid His divine love with sin, with hate, corruption, evil. So then He decided to create the Cylons."

It was at this point when Kara's blood began to chill. She'd never given thought to how closely the new Cylons existence mirrored her own. The Colonies had created the Cylons in order to be slaves. They rebelled and later slaughtered humanity rather than live alongside them. Manticore created the X-series to replace the Cylons as military assets. Kara had been a slave to Lydecker and his sadism. That's why she'd fled. Why she'd rebelled against the only world she'd known. _If Manticore had continued to grow, what would we have become? Could we have been as bad as the Cylons_? She wondered_._

What would happen if the rest of the fleet found out Kara wasn't human? With all the paranoia surrounding the fleet in regards to the humanoid Cylons, there could only be more chaos if a super-soldier was discovered in their midst. They would distrust her. Adama may not let them execute Kara, but she may never be free again.

She turned her attention back towards the prisoner. "The gods had nothing to do with it. Humans created you. Not a higher power. It was a stupid, frakked-up decision, and we have paid for it. You slaughtered my entire civilization. That is sin. That is evil. And you are evil."

"Am I?" Leobon touched a bleeding wound on his head and began to trace lines with the blood on the table. "I see the truths that float past you in the stream. I'll tell you something, Starbuck. You're going to find Kobol. The fleet will discover the birth place of humanity."

Inwardly Kara was stunned. Kobol? She knew of the birthplace of humanity fro, the Ancient Scrolls; the Twelve Tribes left Kobol and established the Colonies. Their cousins in the Thirteenth went on to Earth, where Adama was leading the fleet. What would finding Kobol mean? Starbuck sighed indifferently to mask the tension and unease making every nerve in her body scream. "Bored now. You like streams so much? We'll bring you to one then."

Two guards brought a large barrel of water into the room. Leobon was wrenched away from the table and then shoved unceremoniously face-first into the water. Starbuck watched the Cylon struggle for air as the guards kept him submerged. This wasn't nearly as rewarding as she'd thought it would be. Finally Leobon was let up, and the machine gasped for air, choking and coughing as he came up.

"I wonder why the Cylons took the time to appear so human. Were you just jealous? Infiltration is one thing; I get that. But you guys went all out. According to Dr. Baltar the only physical differences between the humanoids and humans are buried away on the subatomic level. You've gotta dig deep to see the synthetics that make you. Why did you go so all out?"

Leobon coughed again and finally regained his breath. "To understand you better. God loved you first. Humanity failed Him. We are humanity's children. We had to become you to rise against the Colonies."

Starbuck smirked. "Did you just hear yourself, Leobon? Cylons had to _become human_. You say the Colonies deserved to be wiped out to pay for our sins. But what about yours? If you had a soul it would've burned away alongside the nukes that destroyed my home. You are no better than any of us. The only difference between humans and Cylons now is the justification. That's where pretending to be human has got you. Now, where is the nuke?"

"This is not your path, Starbuck," Leobon whispered. "You have a different destiny."

"Do I? Did you see that in the 'stream'? See, I think you're afraid. I think you're afraid that if you die out here you'll be too far from home. You won't wake up in a new body. Your 'soul' won't be saved. You're afraid you really are the monster we all see you as."

The guards dunked his head once again and the water foamed as the Cylon thrashed against his handlers. Kara turned away and ignored the feeling in her gut that she was now talking to herself and not the Cylon in front of her.

A hard voice cut through the gurgling. "Enough! Guards, get him out of there." President Roslin stepped into the room and glared at Starbuck and the marines. She walked over to Leobon, who was again gasping on the floor. "I am sorry for your mistreatment," she told him calmly. "Nothing deserves to be tortured. Not even a machine."

Leobon barely acknowledged Roslin and turned back to face a rigid Starbuck. "What is the most basic article of faith?" he wheezed to her. He spread his arms slowly and gestured towards himself. "This is not all that we are… The difference between you and me is, I know what that means and you don't. I know that I'm more than this body… more than this consciousness. A part of me swims in the stream. But in truth, I'm standing on the shore… The current never takes me downstream."

Silence descended on the room save for Leobon's heavy panting. Roslin stepped forwards again. "Guards, take the prisoner out of here. I've seen enough of this. Lieutenant?" She turned towards Starbuck.

Kara drew herself up and slipped behind her mask. "Sir."

"I am disappointed in you Lieutenant Thrace. Was this worth it? Did you learn what you needed to from the prisoner?"

Starbuck swallowed quickly. "I… I don't believe there is a nuke, sir. Leobon lies. The warhead was set to go off about now. He didn't complete his mission."

Roslin nodded and left the room. More marines were standing outside down the corridor, situated next to an airlock with Leobon. "Release the prisoner," she ordered. Slowly they did so. "Again, Mr. Conroy, I apologize for you treatment. Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to live. Put him out the airlock," she ordered to the marines.

Without warning Leobon moved grabbing the President in an embrace. The marines immediately raised their weapons and Starbuck tensed, ready to move. But Leobon just whispered quietly to the woman. The words were meant to be private but Kara had no problems hearing. "Starbuck was right. There is no nuke. I failed in my mission and was trying to buy time. But I have a parting gift for you. A warning."

The President's reply was even softer than the Cylon's. "Go on."

_"Adama is a Cylon."_

Starbuck's mouth dropped and she barely noticed as Leobon released Roslin and was summarily executed. Adama? The Commander? Lee? They couldn't be… with a sinking feeling, though, Starbuck knew that they really **could** be infiltrators. The fleet didn't know everything about the human models yet. Maybe Adama had always been one. And Lee… Lee was different; Kara knew that. He was too good at what he did. _Is Apollo a Cylon?_

The President drew her attention back to the present. "Lieutenant Thrace."

""Sir. Why… why did you airlock him? We could've used him for information."

"Lieutenant, in one day that Cylon managed to inflict chaos and fear throughout the fleet and force us into actions that left us vulnerable in case of an attack. You do not keep a dangerous machine around when it can hurt you." She shook her head. "Lieutenant did, the Leobon tell you anything else? Anything of use?"

Starbuck shook her head. "He knew things about… about me. Things he probably shouldn't know." She raised her eyes to look at the other woman. "He said we were going to find Kobol."

* * *

Helo woke as the sun fell across his face. A warm body was cradled in his arms and for a brief moment he forgot where he was. It all came crashing back, though, and Karl's entire body stiffened. Oh, gods, he thought. What the frak did I do?

Beside him, Sharon began to stir. Helo could see the damage on her body; bruises on her hips and shoulders, a vicious bite on the side of her neck. Quickly he released her and scrambled to his feet. The movement and loss of body heat made Sharon stir further. She raised her head groggily to look at him. "Helo?"

Karl's eyes darted around the barn, and he snatched up his discarded clothes. He didn't look back at Sharon.

"Helo," she asked again. "What are you doing?"

He kept his back to her as he dressed and replied in a broken voice. "I'm sorry. I… I don't know what came over me. That's no excuse, I know, but, I hurt you Sharon. I hurt you."

"Helo, look at me," she demanded. "It's OK. I could have stopped you."

"No you couldn't," he whispered. "I would've done it anyways." Helo didn't know if that was true, exactly; he'd never forced himself on a woman, but then, he'd never been as rough with one as he had been with Sharon.

"Helo. Karl. Stop it. You are a good man. I let you dominate me like that. You needed it. I've put you through the emotional ringer the past few weeks and it finally caught up with you. You needed it, Karl. I think I needed it too."

He finally turned around and saw the compassion in her eyes. "I don't understand you, Sharon. You're a Cylon. You're supposed to hate me on principal. And I'm supposed to hate you back. But you've been good to me. I believe you. Lords know I shouldn't," he laughed somberly. "but I do. It's frakking me up, and I hurt you."

Sharon stepped forward and put her hands around his waist. She had put her tanks and underpants back on but her arms and legs were still bare. She brushed against him lightly. "I really don't understand it either, Helo. I was supposed to kill you if my mission failed. But I couldn't even consider it. I have all these memories of spending time with you as Boomer and I remember how good you've always been to me. I can't betray that. I can't take you from the world just to save myself. _You are a good man, Helo._ The rest of humanity could learn a lot from you."

Karl listened and couldn't hold back the frantic laugher. He stepped back from Sharon and doubled over, stunned by the irony. He looked through reddened eyes and saw Sharon's face grow annoyed. "What the hell is so funny, Helo? Do you really think so poorly of yourself?"

Helo pulled himself together and sat down against the wall. He looked at Sharon, at the woman, the Cylon, who despite everything he couldn't make himself stop loving. He owed her the truth. "You wanted to know about my barcode, Sharon?"

She frowned, confused at the sudden turn in conversation. "Barcode? You mean your tattoo? What-?"

"It's my designation," he interrupted. "331789934384. It's who I am. **What** I am."

"Helo… what are you saying?"

"Sharon, I'm not human."

* * *

For a moment, Sharon could think of no response. Her brain flew through all possible responses she could give but still came up empty. Sharon had never been stunned before.

"I'm a transgenic," he continued. "An X5, to be specific. I was created by a government project called Manticore. I was created to be a super-soldier for the Colonies."

"Does that explain your strength?" she asked. She'd noticed last night that Helo was using a lot more force than he should have been capable of generating.

He nodded. "Yes. I'm stronger, faster, and smarter than a human. My IQ is genius level and I have near perfect memory recall. I can see five times as far as a human and hear twice as well. My sense of smell is enhanced, too. That's actually how I knew you weren't Boomer. You've never set foot on a Raptor or Battlestar before."

Again Sharon didn't quite know how to respond. This was way more than she was able to comprehend. The man in front of her was telling her he was not, in fact, a man. "Does that make you a machine too? Are you a new kind of Cylon, Helo?"

Helo flinched as she hurled the questions at him. "No. I was created through genetic manipulation. Scientists took human DNA and combined it with animal DNA to create their soldiers. As an X5, I'm nearly 50% feline to 50% human. That's why I'm so different."

Helo seemed to be finished with his story. But Sharon still had questions. She had told him everything, so he was going to do the same for her. "Are you still with Manticore? Is that why you're with the Fleet? On some secret mission?"

The X5 smirked at her. "No, I left Manticore when I was a kid. My sister and I had had enough so we took off in the middle of the night and never looked back. Joined the Academy, where we met Boomer because we needed a way to stop running. Didn't think they'd bother looking for us beneath their noses. Hacked some records and a non-existent family background, and out came Karl C. Agathon."

"So what, Karl isn't really your name? Should I call you 331789934384 now?"

He shook his head vehemently. "**No**. I'm Karl. I was born without a name and Karl is the one my sister gave me. I am Karl. I am Helo."

Sharon had one last question. "You keep talking about your sister. Did she enter the Academy too? There were no other Agathons. She didn't-" Sharon stopped as memories flashed through her mind. She remembered starting at the Academy and meeting Helo, and Starbuck. They were always together. They'd claimed to have just met the year before, but Boomer had always noticed how deep their connection seemed to go.

"Oh my god," she breathed. She looked up at Helo, who was staring back impassively. "It's Starbuck. She's your sister, isn't she?"

Helo looked away and nodded. "Yes. Kara is my sister. She's X5, too."

Sharon thought about what this all could mean. "The Cylons have no idea you exist," she said. "I mean… super-soldiers; the high command would have made Manticore a priority. This is all so surreal."

To her surprise Helo smiled, for the first time that day. "You think I don't realize what a pair we make? You're a glorified appliance and I'm a frakking overgrown cat. Talk about the odd couple."

Sharon laughed and felt, for at least a moment, that things might work out. "Well, I should have known. You did tell me you were a tomcat, Helo."

* * *

In retrospect, Kara was only surprised it had taken so long for things to fall apart. Two months of tension and worry finally exploded on Colonial Day, as she and Apollo helped police the selection of a new Quorum of Twelve on the _Cloud Nine_. Captain Adama had, for whatever reason, insisted to the President that Tom Zarek had been right in the need for elections, and so here they were. The Quorum acted as the legislature of the Colonial government, with a member from each Colony included in its ranks.

Starbuck hadn't been pleased when Apollo drafted her into joining him to secure the event. Since the Tyllium raid and her embarrassing show of weakness she'd been feeling… off center in regards to Lee Adama and she had no idea why. She knew only that **something** inside of her responded to the man, and she did not like the feeling of uncertainty he evoked in her. His stunt during the raid only further pissed her off, but she'd labored to hold her tongue in the weeks since the mission. Then the Leobon Incident had occurred and put even more doubt in her mind. He'd said things that shook her to her core, and now she had to consider the fact that the closest people in her life might be the enemy. Something inside her was going to break, sooner rather than later.

Kara and all her personas- Starbuck, 462, Kara Thrace- were sitting at the bar of the dance the President had organized to close the event pounding back ambrosia and fervently wishing she was able to get drunk. Starbuck had a reputation as somewhat of a heavy drinker, but her peers had always failed to notice that as they got drunker she still remained sober. _Damn X5 metabolism_, she thought. _Now would be the prefect time to get smashed. '_Now', she was sitting at the bar in a dress and heels courtesy of another Lee Adama manipulation. The man had been teasing her about a perceived lack of hygiene, and in true Starbuck fashion she'd responded, which was how she found herself in said dress and miserable.

Without warning Starbuck shivered and inwardly cringed. Frak. She was not at all surprised when she heard a shocked voice behind her say "Wow, Kara. Looks like I was wrong about you."

Pasting a grin on her face Starbuck turned from the bar towards the voice and had to fight back a groan at the sight. Lee was standing in front of her in full dress greys. The uniform looked utterly ridiculous on everybody who wore it, but somehow Apollo was pulling it off. The jacket sleeves and brown sash accentuated his broad shoulders effectively hinted at the power in his muscular arms. The brown on the sash set off of the blue of his eyes and seemed to make them glow. Even with all the conflicting emotions and thoughts she had in regards to Lee she couldn't deny he looked damn good.

Kara realized she was staring and barely managed to recover herself. "Damn right you were, Apollo. I clean up good," she smirked.

He laughed. "Well, Kara, would you like to dance?"

She hesitated. _Gods, I shouldn't_, she thought even as she let him lead her onto the dance floor. As they began to move Lee surprised her again with a grace she hadn't thought an Ordinary capable of. _A Cylon might move like this_. He swept her along the dance floor and Kara felt the earlier feeling of **something** rising within her once again. She looked up to his face and found his piercing eyes staring straight at her, straight into her soul. Kara couldn't suppress another shiver and when the song ended she broke away, and fled. _What the frak is wrong with me?

* * *

_

Lee stood on the dance floor watching as Kara turned left him standing on the dance floor. What had happened? He'd been stunned to see her in the blue dress when he'd arrived, and quickly seized the opportunity to ask for a dance. Everything had been fine- more than fine- he'd thought, when she'd suddenly turned tail and run. She'd acted distant since the raid on the Tyllium mine and her interrogation of the Cylon. Lee had caught her staring at him with an expression he couldn't place since, but this was the first time she'd not even pretended to be fine. Lee went after her.

"Kara!" he called as he caught up to her outside in the park dome of Cloud Nine. "What's going on with you?"

She spun around and Lee stopped short. Kara looked furious; her eyes blazed and her jaw was set in a hard line. "What's going on with **me**?" she hissed. "What the hell did you think you were doing in there? You were all over me!"

"Are you kidding me? We were dancing! I'm not allowed to dance with my best friend?"

Kara laughed mockingly. "Best friend? Really, Lee? That's pathetic." She turned around to leave and Lee grabbed her arm.

"Kara! Seriously, what the frak?"

The woman stopped when Lee touched her and for a moment was perfectly still. She reached over and pried his hand away. "Let's get something straight here, Apollo. You are the CAG. I'm one of your pilots. _We are not friends_."

"Frak you, Kara," Lee spat as he slammed the hurt behind his Manticore shield. "You've been off ever since the raid and I'm getting sick of your mood swings."

"The Tyllium raid? You wanna talk about that? You wanna talk about how frakking reckless you were out there?"

"Reckless?! I did what I had to in order to get the damn mission done, _Lieutenant_. You have no right to talk to me about being reckless."

"You're right, _Captain_. **I** am reckless. **I** am Starbuck, not you. You're just our barely competent superior officer pretending he has half a clue as to what he's doing. You're a joke, Apollo."

Lee found himself growling as he glared at Kara. "You better step off, right the frak now, Starbuck. Before I do something that'll end with you visiting Doc Cottle."

Kara laughed darkly. "As if you could, _sir_. As if you could."

She turned around and left Lee once again even more confused than before.


	8. Falling Down the Mountain

AN: Continuing on with the events of the end of season 1 here; no quotes lifted this time (yay!) but several familiar ideas. I'd like to note that Crashdown is with Boomer here as opposed to Racetrack, because, well I didn't kill him off and he's still Boomer's ECO. Also, I *will* be replying to reviews eventually; I appreciate all of them a lot and want to take the time to respond. Thanks.

* * *

**Chaper 7: Falling Down the Mountain**

The Cylon Raider rose slowly from the flight deck and made its way out into space. Apollo had his eyes glued to it as Starbuck began her maiden flight in the captured fighter. She had thrown herself into the work since its capture, and together with the Chief had managed to rework its systems well enough to warrant a test flight. "This is Starbuck," she called over the com. "All systems are operational so far. Beginning test maneuvers."

The designated test maneuvers were relatively simple, so Apollo was not surprised when Kara immediately sped up and threw the Raider through a series of patterns only she could pull off. "Starbuck, Apollo. How are things handling?"

"Fine, sir," came her strained reply. On board _Galactica_ it would sound like Kara was just absorbed in her task, but Lee knew the tone was reserved for him. "_Galactica_, Starbuck. I'm leveling out to begin weapons check. Stand by."

The Raider had been fully loaded with ammo when it was captured, so the Commander was hoping it might be of use as an infiltration ship if the need ever arose. An operational weapons system would make that more feasible. As he watched, the Raider's wingtip cannons opened up, firing off rounds into the black of space. Everything appeared operational to him. Starbuck reported as much to _Galactica_ and they received the order to head back to the ship.

The Captain popped his canopy and climbed down the ladder Cally had rolled over to him. She gave him a smile that looked weak to Apollo's eyes and then fled with a hurried acknowledgment. He walked over to where Starbuck and Chief Tyrol were going through the Raider's post-flight checkup. Starbuck stiffened slightly when he approached. "Lieutenant, Chief. Anything out of the ordinary to report?"

"No, sir," Tyrol replied. "She handled just as we expected and everything seems to have held together so far. A few more tests and she should be fully capable."

"Thanks, Chief. Any problems handling the Raider, Lieutenant?"

Starbuck sneered openly. "Do I ever have a problem flying, sir? Everything checked out fine."

"Good," he nodded shortly. "I'll leave you to it. I have a meeting with the President on _Colonial One_, so you're in charge, Starbuck."

* * *

"Good evening, Madam President," Lee smiled politely at Laura Roslin. Since their shared escape from the Cylons the day of the attack on the Colonies, he'd been acting as military liaison between her and his father. Apollo liked the woman; thrust into an unimaginable situation the day the worlds ended she had kept the civilian fleet together almost single handedly as tensions between the military and the people had begun to rise. The fifty thousands souls aboard the civilian vessels had been chafing under Adama and the _Galactica_ since the recent lull in Cylon attacks. The people were all too easily forgetting how much they owed to the _Galactica_ and her crew, and the Commander was not taking the criticisms lightly. That was what brought Lee to _Colonial One_.

"Captain Apollo, it's good to see you," the President replied. "How are things with you?"

Lee smiled ruefully. Truthfully, he'd been all over the place since Kara-_Lieutenant Thrace's_- harsh words on Colonial Day. He'd known Starbuck was a big part of his life since the end of the worlds, but Lee was still feeling adrift with all the free time he now had for himself. Starbuck had taken to only speaking to him while on duty with the minimum amount of interaction possible. Off duty she was cold, glaring Lee's way when she would bother to look at him at all. The other pilots had noticed the hostility quicker than Lee expected; the very next day he entered the rec room only to have it go silent the moment he'd stepped through the hatch. Lee quickly turned around and left, and had not bothered going back.

Apollo knew full well that Starbuck had the better relationship with _Galactica's_ other pilots. She'd been with many of them for close to two years, and had personally trained every nugget they'd taken on the past two months. Lee just hadn't expected them to so blatantly choose sides. Whatever they imagined to have happened between the CAG and Starbuck, they clearly blamed Apollo.

Lee had always been quick with his paperwork- X5 efficient brains came in handy for flight schedules, if nothing else- but now he had so much down time he'd been left floundering. He couldn't work out his frustrations during the day; any actual exertion would require more weight, power, or stamina than he'd be able to explain possessing. He'd eventually turned towards making supply runs between _Galactica_ and the fleet. Ostensibly he was filling in for the shortage of pilots, but in reality he'd gotten the OK from the Commander to perform cursory inspections upon the other vessels for signs of low moral or anti-military sentiment.

"I've been better, to be honest," he admitted to Roslin. "Things are getting tough. People are starting to lose hope; the pilots are getting antsy…"

The President sighed. "Yes, I am aware of the fleet's emotional state. The Quorom has been all over me to give them something to improve morale, but I just don't know what to do."

"My father isn't sure what to do either. It's not as if we have an endless stream of recruits coming in to replace those on _Galactica_. We're it, and the crew is just realizing what that means."

Young Billy Keikeya entered the room. "Madam President, the Commander has just called to report in. It seems a Raptor crew stumbled upon a planet that appears habitable on their last scouting run. He's sending over the images they took right now."

Roslin seemed pleased with the news. "Thank you, Billy. Captain Apollo, do you want to stick around to see?"

Apollo did; he knew that it would be Boomer and Crashdown who'd just reported back and was anxious to see what they'd found. Perhaps this planet could give the fleet some much-needed supplies…

"Elosha is still here, right Billy?" He heard the President ask. "See if she wants to join us as well."

Lee knew of the Priestess from his recent visits with Roslin. The President had confided in him months ago of the terminal breast cancer currently afflicting her, and a short time ago had resorted to prayer as a measure of hope for recovery recently. He hadn't known, however, that Elosha had ingratiated herself so closely to the President that she would sit in on such classified matters. A moment later and the woman joined the three as Billy set out the pictures. Elosha had a pleasant face; despite the serious nature of being a Priestess of the Lords of Kobol her dark brown eyes held a twinkle that promised she was more than just a religious sock puppet. Lee respected her greatly, despite his atheism.

He turned his attention to the topographical photos. The planet was covered in plant life; it consisted of several large green continents surrounding deep blue oceans and blanketed by swaths of white clouds. Closer images revealed a variety of terrain; forests, flatlands, even several valleys and mountainous regions. Apollo turned his gaze towards another image. "Ruins," he called out, pointing to the image. "These are ruins. There used to be a civilization on this planet."

Roslin exclaimed. "What? Those aren't ruins; the city looks brand new. This planet is inhabited! Look, there are streets, and buildings." She pointed right to the ruins in front of them.

"Madam President… there are no intact buildings in that image," Billy told her in a confused tone.

"No, look, right here- there are five roads leading up to this large building; it actually looks a bit like the Opera House back on Caprica." She shook her head and frowned, seemingly unsure of herself.

Lee was trying to figure out how to respond diplomatically when Elosha inhaled sharply and grabbed her copy of the Ancient Scrolls and quickly flipped to a map inside. "Madam President," she called excitedly, pushing the book forward. "Is this what you saw?"

"Yes, that's it- is this Pythia?"

The Priestess nodded. "Madam President, this is a drawing of the City of the Gods on Kobol."

Roslin and Lee both gaped while Billy gasped aloud. "You mean," he said shakily. "this planet is Kobol?"

The President closed her eyes and breathed heavily. "Kobol. It must be. The Leobon told Lieutenant Thrace we would find it. It appears he was correct."

Apollo frowned at the mention of the manipulative Cylon. He knew the machine's cryptic meeting with Kara was contributing to her recent behavior. He was not thrilled the President seemed so willing to believe that this planet was the birthplace of humanity based partially on his words. He cleared his throat. "Madame President, I believe my father will want to explore this planet before any major operation occurs. Kobol or not, it will likely have some much needed supplies we can collect."

Roslin opened her mouth to reply when suddenly her eyes glazed over and she wobbled on her feet. Lee instantly reached out and guided her to her seat, ignoring Billy's attempts to take her from him. After a moment the President's eyes cleared, and she accepted the glass of water Elosha gave her. "Laura, what did you see?"

See? What? Apollo was confused as Roslin replied hesitantly. "I saw… an arrow. It, it opened up a tomb, down on the planet. We must find the arrow. I don't know why…"

For the second time Elosha flipped through her holy book. "This must refer to the Arrow of Apollo. The scrolls say that it can be used to open up the Tomb of Athena, and guide the way to Earth…"

Lee sat numbly as the woman celebrated. Again, he was worried he needed to be the voice of reason. "Madam President, are you sure you're all right? I don't quite understand what's happening right now."

The President sighed and looked at him. "Well Captain Apollo, I assume you are familiar with the Prophet Pythia?" Lee nodded. "She chronicled the Thirteenth Tribe's journey to Earth, and spoke of a "dying leader" who would guide humanity to their brothers. I recently have been having visions of religious significance; coiled snakes, the City of the Gods, the Arrow… Elosha and I believe that I am the dying leader the scrolls speak of. All of this has happened before and all will happen again."

The pilot opened his mouth intending to laugh incredulously, but the sound was lost before it could escape. "You… you're serious." He stopped and thought for a moment. Growing up he had pretty much been doomed to his atheism, between his Manticore training and father. He'd always respected the beliefs of the Colonies, even if he did not share them. This, though, was something entirely unexpected. The President was having visions. He wanted to immediately dismiss them, but knew Roslin had not been particularly religious a short time ago, so this had to be extremely persuasive for her to be so fervent.

He sighed heavily. "I'll admit… I'm skeptical, Madam President. But, I don't think you have lost your mind or anything. So I will reserve judgment for now."

Roslin smiled. "Thank you, Captain Apollo. It is a relief to know you are not rejecting this out of hand. I fear the Commander will be less reticent."

Lee laughed at the understatement. "I'll say. He won't be pleased at all. You should speak to him as soon as possible."

"Thank you for the advice, Captain. I will, in fact, accompany you back to _Galactica_, if you don't mind."

* * *

Kara stepped out of the head and made her way back to the pilot's bunk. Her Raider smelled like death inside, she needed to shower as soon as she completed work each day to be allowed back in the bunks. She opened up the hatch and was pleased to see the room was empty. Space on board a Battlestar was always limited, but the amount of time the crew had been stuck together made any moment alone a precious thing indeed. She dressed slowly, pulling on her duty uniform. Just as Starbuck was buttoning up the blue jacket the hatch opened and Apollo walked through. He stopped at the sight of her and determinedly avoided her gaze. Kara felt a twinge of regret, for a moment, and shoved it away to scowl at the man. She was not ready to make up and play nice. She didn't owe Lee anything. Starbuck left the room quickly.

The CAG's arrival forced her to leave sooner than she had needed to, so Kara found herself wandering over to the hallway the crew had devoted to photographs of the dead. Every time she came it stunned Kara to see how many people had been lost just within the _Galactica's_ family. She refused to put up a picture of her brother. She only had one image left of Karl, and that stayed right in her locker next to the photo of she and Zak. _And Lee_. As Kara stood she heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Laura Roslin walking towards her.

"Lieutenant Thrace," the President nodded politely.

"Madam President." Kara had only encountered the woman one other time since her interrogation of Leobon. She still felt awkward around Roslin after the disapproval she'd shown of Kara's… techniques.

"I try and come here as often as possible when I visit _Galactica_," the President said softly as her eyes took in the photos of the dead. "I feel it is important to not forget the people who've been lost in this war. If we forget them, we will lose our souls."

"I agree. Lords know we've all given enough… I just hope the Commander is getting us close to Earth."

Roslin looked unhappy when Kara mentioned the Thirteenth Colony. "Lieutenant… you believe in the legend, then? And that Commander Adama can lead us to Earth?"

Starbuck nodded emphatically. "I do. I believe in the Old Man."

The President studied her for a moment. "Lieutenant, would you come with me for a moment? I'd like to discuss something with you."

Kara followed her to an empty conference room just off the hallway. "Madam President, what's going on?"

"You are religious, I believe, Lieutenant?" Kara replied that she was. "Do you believe in the scrolls of Pythia?" Roslin told her about her cancer and visions and she and Priestess Elosha's certainty that she was the dying leader foretold in the scriptures.

"But, how can that be? How can you be the dying leader? Have the Three been called? The scrolls say they are every bit as important to the journey to Earth." Starbuck was referring to vague references throughout Pythia of three beings who would come to the aid of the people after great trials and aid the dying leader in fulfilling her purpose.

Roslin sighed. "As far as I know they have not. And I have not received any visions as to their identities or whereabouts. That doesn't lessen my certainty as to my path, though."

Kara was inclined to agree. If what the woman was telling her was the truth she had to be the foretold leader. "All of this has happened before and all this will happen again," she whispered. "Why are you telling me this, Madam President?"

She watched as Roslin visibly braced herself. "Because Adama does not believe the scrolls will help us find Earth. And he does not know where it is."

"What? You're lying. Why would you say that, the Old Man would never-"

"Lieutenant, Adama wanted to give the people hope after the attacks. It was the correct decision at the time, I believe. But that time has passed. We must act and retrieve the Arrow from Caprica if we are to find Earth. I need your help Lieutenant Thrace."

"Me? Why? Adama will never let me go. And I can't, I can't believe he'd lie. He wouldn't. Not to me."

_"Lieutenant Thrace report to the CIC. Repeat, Lieutenant Thrace report to CIC."_ Dualla's voice echoed through the ship.

Starbuck stood up quickly and whispered a hurried "I'm sorry" and fled the room.

* * *

Things were different between Helo and Sharon. He'd been quiet in the days since their… encounter and the reveal of his heritage. Karl didn't regret telling his companion; he was sure it had been the right thing to do. He just didn't know where to go next. He had little delusions that Sharon and he could have any kind of future together. The moment _Galactica_ found out she and Boomer were Cylons they'd be executed, or, at best, thrown in the brig indefinitely. Helo didn't want that for Sharon. But could he just leave her on Caprica? Her superiors knew by now she'd failed her mission. Well, technically… she had accomplished half of it. Karl had fallen for her, hard. _Gods, I have worse luck than Kara now_, he mused.

Helo was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a soft retching. It was Sharon. "Hey, are you alright?" He moved over to where she was bent over a bush and put his hand on her back. This was the third time in the past week she'd gotten ill. "Sharon? You aren't getting radiation sickness, are you?"

The woman straightened up. Her face was pale and she looked a bit clammy. She grabbed a drink from her water and shook her head. "No, I'm fine, Helo, don't worry. Can we stop for a minute?"

"Yeah, of course. We're nearly to Delphi anyways, we can hold off a while longer." They sat in silence again.

After a moment Sharon began to laugh. "What's so funny?" Helo asked.

"We are. We had no problems talking when we were both just a couple of kids from Aerilon and Tauron, but now that we know the truth and in fact have even more in common than most we can't think of a single thing to say."

Helo smiled. "Ah, come on Sharon. If we're talking I can't sit and brood about our star-crossed love affair."

He'd been joking, but Sharon's face grew serious. "You do, don't you?" she asked, an intent expression on her face. "You love me."

Karl cringed. Sure he'd told her as much before, but that had been in a mostly past tense sense of the word and now he didn't know… He sighed heavily. He couldn't fool himself any more. He loved Sharon. Robot she may be, Helo loved her. He didn't want to lie and say she was wrong. But things would, once again, change once the words were said out loud. _Don't run from this, Karl_, he thought to himself. _You've never been this honest with a person before. You know what that means. _

Helo raised his eyes and met Sharon's head on. His hazel looked straight into her brown, and he replied steadily. "I do. Lords know I shouldn't, Sharon, but I do. I love you. I just don't know what that means."

The woman smiled shyly at his admission. Then her face turned serious again, and she opened her mouth to reply, before shutting it again. Helo thought he knew where this was going. "You don't need to say anything," he said hurriedly. "I don't know if you feel the same, and I don't need to hear it right now if you. I just… you asked, and I won't lie to you."

"That's not it, Helo. I know why I'm getting sick." She looked away. "It's been what, three weeks or so since we had sex?"

Karl didn't respond to her question. They both knew perfectly well how long it had been. Counting the days was one of the few consistent activities available to them on their trek. "Sharon, just tell me. You are sick, aren't you? I've been thinking you smelled differently, and I didn't want to-"

"Helo, I'm pregnant."

* * *

"Starbuck, thank you for getting here quickly," Bill greeted the pilot.

"Of course, sir," she responded. Bill noticed Kara seemed to be a bit harried. He hoped he hadn't woken her; she hadn't been sleeping much since the raid and her capture of the Raider.

He held off on asking and got right to the point. "Captain Adama tells me the Raider is all but operational pending a test of its FTL?"

"Yes, sir. The Cylons use a slightly different FTL, as you know, so the Raider is capable of making much longer jumps than any of our ships are. We'll need to do some calibrating to adjust it to some of our instruments."

Adama nodded; he'd read as much in Starbuck's report earlier. "I have a mission for you, Lieutenant. You may not have heard but a Cylon Basestar has just jumped into orbit over Kobol. Our scouting mission was forced to abort when it appeared in system. We want it gone, and we'd like to use the Raider to get close enough to accomplish that."

"Sir, are you asking me to fly into the Basestar and destroy the target from inside?"

"I am. Can you do it?"

"Yes sir. You can count on me."

Bill smiled. With the turmoil surrounding the President's newfound religious ambitions and his son's wavering between the two leaders, it was good to know where at least one of his crew still stood. "Apollo will fly escort while you test the Raider's FTL this afternoon, and if all goes well we'll launch for Kobol tomorrow at 0700. Dismissed, Starbuck."

"Sir?" Kara called before she'd left. "Permission to speak freely?"

Bill nodded, granting her request. "I was wondering when… when we'd find Earth."

Adama hesitated, unsure of what to say. Only Tigh, Lee and the President knew that Earth was a myth. He couldn't tell Kara. "It's hard to be certain," he lied smoothly. "We're getting closer."

Starbuck frowned and looked away. "But, you don't know for sure?"

"Kara, it's been a long time since the journey has been made. I can't give you a definite answer." _Please drop it, Kara_, he thought sadly.

Kara nodded her head and turned back towards him, face devoid of emotion. "I understand sir. Guess I'm just getting a bit impatient."

With that she took her leave and Bill began to wonder if something else had just transpired.

* * *

Lee wouldn't have thought it possible, but somehow Kara was managing to be even more distant than normally this afternoon. He'd met her before the test flight on her Raider's FTL and she'd been completely distracted. Starbuck hadn't even kept up the stony silence and curt answers she'd been treating him to since their fight. He couldn't imagine what might have gotten her upset now. He flicked on his com. "Alright Starbuck I'm all set here. You ready to jump?"

The plan was for Kara to perform a microjump in the Cylon craft, to a fixed point a lightsecond away. It was far enough away to determine the effectiveness of the FTL, but close enough that both Starbuck and the Raptor stationed at the jump spot could report back to _Galactica_. Starbuck responded to his query with a heavy sigh. As Apollo watched, she turned her Raider around until she was heading away from the jump point back towards the fleet.

"Starbuck, _Galactica_." Dee's voice came through the wireless. "The Commander has confirmed everything is go for the test but DRADIS has you returning towards base. Are you having mechanical problems?"

A beep from his console drew Apollo's gaze. "Frak," he swore aloud. "She's spinning up the FTL. Starbuck this is Apollo. Kara, what are you doing?"

Her voice finally responded. "I'm sorry Lee. I have to do this. Tell the Commander I have to do this for all of us. Starbuck out." As he watched the blue flash of a FTL jump lit up space, and when it cleared, Starbuck was gone.

* * *

Apollo climbed down the ladder from his Viper silently. He couldn't believe it. Kara had gone… where? He had no idea. Did she finally lose it, he wondered? He walked into the CIC in time to hear his father tell Colonel Tigh to gather up a team of marines to head to _Colonial One_. "Commander?" he called out cautiously. "Sir, what just happened?"

"Roslin," his father snarled. "She interfered with my command, encouraged Starbuck to mutiny. I am terminating her presidency."

Lee stared numbly. Kara and the President… _Oh, frak. She's gone after the Arrow_. "The Cylons will be crawling all over Caprica," he said quietly. "Roslin just sent her to die."

"Exactly. This can't be allowed. We're sending out Boomer and Crashdown with Lt. Gaeta's Cylon transponders to destroy the Basestar now that we don't have the Raider. Captain, you will accompany Colonel Tigh."

Lee nodded shortly, but was inwardly seething. How could the Commander just remove Roslin from office like this? She was the head of the civilian government, removing her would effectively amount to a military coup. It was completely against the Articles and everything Lee and Apollo and 318 had literally been created to uphold. Could he stand by and let this happen? He didn't know. He had a duty to follow the Commander as his superior officer. Normally the President of the Colonies was the leader of the military as well, but Roslin and Adama had agreed to give the Commander full control while she handled all civilian matters. But the President had violated that agreement. Adama was right to be furious with her.

_That doesn't mean he can just throw her out of office_, he realized. _This is wrong. I have to defend the Articles- even against my father. _Apollo entered the President's chamber with Tigh and the Marines; guns drawn. He knew what he had to do.

"President Roslin," he heard Tigh announce. "You are hereby under arrest and must surrender yourself to Commander Adama's authority."

"I can't do that, Colonel Tigh. I am the President, and I have a duty to my people."

It was time. Tigh began to yell, "You are no longer the-"

"Put down your weapons." Lee was calm. Focused. The gun pointed at his XO's head did not waver. "Colonel Tigh, order your men to stand down."

"I do not take orders from you, Captain," Tigh hissed. "This is mutiny."

"'**This**', is what's right. '**This**' is me defending the Articles, Colonel. My father has lost sight of that. Now, Stand. Down."

"Captain," Roslin's voice spoke out in the silence. Lee's gaze flickered to her and then focused back on Tigh as the man shifted away from the gun. "Apollo. I appreciate what you are doing, but we must be the ones to stand down. I will not have this end in bloodshed."

She was right. Gods damn it, she was right. _Frakked up again, 318._ A dagger of heat shot through him with the realization. Lee lowered his gun and allowed the Marines to restrain him. He looked straight into Colonel Tigh's smug gaze. "Captain, I relieve you of your duty. You are under arrest pending charges of treason and mutiny." Tigh paused. "Your Old Man's gonna eat you alive, Apollo."

"I made my choice, Colonel. I stand by it. Do not try to shame me."

Lee and the President were escorted to the waiting Raptor and they departed back to _Galactica_. Outwardly, Lee presented a stoic front. Inside he was a mass of confusion and frustration. He didn't regret his actions. He knew they were right. Why couldn't his father see that? Lee could legally be executed for his mutiny today. If he had acted out while on Manticore's watch he'd have been in Psy Ops already with the scientists attempting to isolate his "deficiency" before he became nothing more than spare parts.

The Raptor landed on _Galactica_ just behind the one Boomer and Crashdown had returned in. They debarked and Roslin was led to the brig. Lee was to report to the Commander himself in the CIC. _Guess he wants a show_, Lee thought bitterly. 318 held his head high as he was marched down _Galactica's_ hallways. He'd been stripped of his duty jacket and was currently only in his tanks; his fully emerged barcode shown clearly at his nape. It was obvious what he had done, and the looks of disgust on the deck hands and crewmembers faces he passed would have filled an Ordinary man with shame. 318 was not Ordinary. He buried the emotions before they could rear their heads and sway his resolve. He needed it, and his Manticore trained control to make it through this confrontation intact.

* * *

_Frak frak frak frak frak frak frak._ The expletive was the only word Starbuck could think of as her Raider hurled through Caprica's poisoned atmosphere. She'd done it. She'd really done it. She'd betrayed the Old Man. She'd left Lee. For what? A frakking Arrow that **might** lead them to Earth? And she went by herself? _Gods I wish Lee was with me right now. My frak-up tally is getting ridiculous_, she thought. The Raider screamed as it flew through the air and Kara pulled in for a quick landing just outside the museum in Delphi. Her arrival would doubtless bring down the Cylons, but she really didn't care. She'd be in and out, and, well, if not… Gods have pity on any Cylon that came between X5-462 and her mission.

Starbuck entered the museum and immediately headed towards the Arrow. It was one of the few artifacts the people of the Colonies had been able to verify had made the voyage with them from Kobol, and so had a place of honor within the museum. Kara grabbed the arrow and placed it in the sheath on her back She felt the disturbance behind her and calmly turned around. Standing ten feet away was a woman; a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair and a cruel look in her eyes. A Cylon. "You didn't think we were going to let you take the Arrow with you, did you Lieutenant?" The machine asked in a slick sounding voice. "Now I'm going to have to do something drastic."

Kara grinned in anticipation. She was pleased to see a flicker of doubt cross the Cylon's face as the feral look settled in 462's eyes. "We'll just have to see about that now, won't we?" she purred, beckoning Blondie forward.

The machine moved swiftly towards Kara and snapped out with a fist. Starbuck dodged it easily and snaked out a palm to deliver a slap to her opponents face. The Cylon's eyes filled with rage at the mocking fire she saw in Starbuck's face. The robot tried to hit her again. Kara took it easily on her cheek, and quickly spun around launching a brutal kick to the Cylon's ribs. Her look of excitement only grew when she heard the crack. Pain distorted the machine's face and Starbuck used the distraction to her advantage, doling out punches and elbows to her opponent's face, core, and legs. The Cylon stepped back to get distance and begin a counter-attack. Kara thwarted her instantly; blurring forward and grabbing Blondie in a bear hug. "Can you fly?" she asked softly. Starbuck ran full tilt towards the large hole in the floor and dropped off into nothing as the Cylon shrieked.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Sharon, I heard something in there. Super- ears, remember? We need to check it out." Helo and Sharon had finally made it to Delphi. They were slowly making their way towards the small air base. Karl didn't know if it would be intact, but if that plan failed, Sharon had sworn to steal him a Raider if needed to get him- them- off the planet. He'd known admitting he loved Sharon would change things again, but he'd never expected her to be pregnant. Pregnant! He had no idea how that was possible. He accepted that Sharon was a person, and was alive, albeit in a different way than humanity was. But he'd somehow impregnated her. He'd walked in with eyes open and fulfilled her mission. If she wanted, Sharon could kill Helo and report to her old masters with no recompense. According to Sharon, though, the Cylons would take their child and she was not going to let that happen. Helo had no choice but to bring her with him.

The pair was standing outside the old museum in the city. Helo was sure he'd heard the sounds of a fight coming from inside. Flesh smacking flesh; either the Cylons were turning on each other- he glanced towards Sharon- or there was at least one human inside possibly struggling for their life. He had to investigate. Helo walked into the museum just in time to see his sister tackle a number Six and hurtle out into nothing…

… and land fifteen feet below on the ground. The Cylon's body was dead, clearly, but Karl only had eyes for his sister. He walked towards the edge of the walkway and dropped easily to the lower level. It was her. _My gods, it's Kara_, he thought in wonder. Her head had snapped up at the sound of footsteps. Kara was completely frozen as he walked towards his sister and came to a stop right in front of her. Finally, she shook her head and snapped back into focus. "Karl?" she whispered in disbelief.

Karl was sure his grin could light up a black hole. "Kara," he said reverently. "You are the last person I ever expected to see here, little sister."

The woman made a choked sound and crashed into Helo's open embrace.

_"I missed you."_

_

* * *

_

Adama looked up as Tigh and a pair of marines escorted his son into the CIC. Lee looked completely blank; any emotion hidden behind the mask Bill hated so much. His wrists were shackled in front of him, and for a moment Bill felt relief Lee had allowed Tigh to take him into custody. Adama was not looking forward to this confrontation, so he delayed it by deliberately turning his back towards the Raptor pilots who'd just reported back from their completed mission.

Lt. Alex "Crashdown" Quartararo was positively beaming, the Commander saw; pleased with his contribution to destroying the Basestar orbiting Kobol. Adama reached out and shook his hand. "Congratulations Lieutenant. Your actions were courageous and gave us a great victory today." Adama turned towards Lt. Sharon Valerii. Boomer's face was contorted into a mask so lifeless she put Lee to shame. Hesitantly he smiled again and reached out to commend her. Her arm rose and suddenly Bill was knocked to the side as two loud cracks filled the air. He fell heavily on his stomach and felt the air whoosh out of him. He rolled over and sat up to view the commotion. _What the frak is going on?_ Boomer was being restrained by marines; with her sidearm lying on the deck in front of her.

Bill's gaze turned toward where he'd been standing and his heart stopped beating. Lee was slumped against the center console with two blossoming bloodstains growing upon his chest. His son's blue eyes flickered to Bill. Lee gave him a soft, broken smile before closing those eyes.

Lee was still wearing his restraints.


	9. Happiness is a Warm Gun

AN: Sorry for the delay, took a while to get through a few spots of this. There's a fair amount of stuff from a secondary character here, even a POV scene, so if it doesn't work that well for you let me know and we'll stick to the main cast in the future.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Happiness is a Warm Gun**

"MEDIC! GET THE GODSDAMN MEDIC HERE RIGHT THE FRAK NOW!"

Bill barely heard Tigh yelling. He barely noticed the commotion around him. His entire focus, his concentration, his **life** was on the floor in front of him. He didn't remember moving over to his son. He didn't remember putting his hand over the wounds and instantly being covered in _blood blood blood oh Gods so much blood._ Bill didn't know how long he sat there. He didn't know the howls of wounded rage and grief were coming from his own mouth. _Lee Lee Lee wake up Lee wake up open your eyes please Lee son come on do it please wake up son Lee Lee Lee!_

Bill felt hands grabbing his shoulders and shoved them away. They were trying to take Lee away from him. They were trying to take Bill's SON AWAY. No. No. Lee can't go. Lee has to stay, he has to be here, for Bill, because they were lost for so long and they didn't fix it, they didn't talk about anything and they tried and they started but it wasn't done and Bill couldn't lose Lee while he was still so mad at him and mad at himself and mad at Manticore and Lydecker and _Gods Lee please don't go Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee._

Another hand lightly touched his shoulder and he heard a soft voice. "Commander, it's Ishay. I need to take the Captain to the infirmary, sir. He's losing a lot of blood. Please let go."

Let go? How could they ask him to let go of Lee again? He'd done nothing but let his son go throughout Lee's life and now they wanted him to leave again? Never. _Never leave again, Lee I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so sorry please come back please don't go. _He heard more voices talking and didn't know -didn't care- what they were saying. He didn't know anything but Lee until he felt a prick in his neck, and his son slowly faded into black.

* * *

Crashdown walked numbly down _Galactica's_ corridors. Ten minutes. That was all it took for shit to hit the fan and the black and white world to get slashed with red. His feet automatically followed the path to the pilots bunk. Gods. Just an hour ago he was laughing and smiling and already thinking about the party they'd throw in the rec room after destroying the Basestar. How the frak could this happen?

With a start he realized he'd been standing in front of the hatch for almost a minute. Crash pulled open the door and was immediately assaulted by noise. Most of the ships pilots were crammed inside and all of them were yelling and looking around. As the Raptor pilot stepped into the room the noise cut out and all eyes turned to him. For a moment he thought they were waiting to hear what had happened on the mission before remembering the XO putting the ship on general alert and setting condition one. They knew something had gone down, but clearly not what. He would have to be the one to say it.

"Crash!" Kat yelled. "Did you just come from CIC?"

Hot Dog jumped in. "What the frak is going on?!"

Alex swallowed. He paused. He swallowed again. "It was, um. It was Boomer."

"WHAT was Boomer? Spit it out!"

"Sharon's a Cylon," he whispered. He turned his face to the ground, refusing to meet the eyes of any of the other pilots.

Sharon Valerii was a Cylon. He should have known. Crashdown was Sharon's ECO, they flew together for hours and hours each week; they'd found water for the fleet together, spotted the Cylon's Tyllium mine, and just found Kobol and destroyed a Cylon Basestar by themselves. Lts Quartararo and Valerii were Adama's go-to team for Raptors. They were the best. Crash was the eyes and Boomer the hands. They'd never failed a mission in the months since the attacks. The pair had become a well-oiled… _machine. A machine, just like Sharon is,_ he thought brokenly. He didn't think they'd blame him for not seeing what Sharon was. Tigh asked him about the Basestar mission, and he'd told the XO about Boomer acting weird and having to leave the Raptor to set the nuke. The Colonel had admitted none of them had had a clue, so he shouldn't worry. That bit of reassurance from the bastard of an officer just brought the severity of the situation down on Crash's head- but it didn't matter. It still felt like his fault. If only he'd seen, this never would have happened and Apollo wouldn't be-

"Alex." Racetrack's soft voice made him look up. Nobody ever called him Alex. It was always Crashdown, or Crash, or Lt. Quartararo. Never Alex. He met her worried eyes. "Tell us what happened. Please."

"Can- can I sit down?" They let him walk over to the table in the middle of the room and clustered around him. His nerves were already shot, so being closed in like this wasn't doing anything for his mental state. "Adama was congratulating Boomer and I on the mission… he shook my hand first, and turned to Sharon. I was so… proud over blowing the Basestar I didn't even notice it until it was too late."

"Until what was too late Alex?" Racetrack- Maggie- asked.

"Sharon pulled out her sidearm. She pulled the trigger and Apollo… he shoved the Commander out of the way. He took two bullets right to the chest. Boomer shot Apollo."

"Oh gods," Kat whispered. Everyone else was just as stunned as she was. Faces were pale; a few were shaking their heads in disbelief. Hot Dog and Maggie both looked like they were about to cry. Alex closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath.

Somebody spoke up; he couldn't tell who. He didn't really care. "Is… is Apollo dead?"

"I don't know… there was blood everywhere and the medics got there pretty quick and hauled him out of there. They had to sedate the Commander to get him to let go."

"Frak me," Maggie swore. "I didn't even think; Apollo's his son, his only son… Gods."

Alex looked down at his hands. He didn't want to answer any more questions. He just wanted to sleep. Sleep and wake up and have none of this ever have happened. He just wanted to close his eyes and not see blood, everywhere… "I need to shower." He stood abruptly and grabbed a towel from his locker before fleeing the bunkroom. He needed space, needed to shower, needed to get the blood off of his flight suit, off of his hands.

He entered the head and immediately yanked off his boots and ripped off his flight suit, flinging it as far away as he could. Alex stripped off his tanks and briefs and stepped over to the showers. Twisting the water on as hot as he could stand Alex stood under the stream, panting as he tried to regain his equilibrium.

_Gods. Such a frakking coward Alex,_ he thought to himself. Why was this messing him up so bad? He was in the frakking military! He'd lived through the end of the godsdamn worlds! And this, seeing the CAG get shot, was the breaking point? Crash wasn't even supposed to be on _Galactica_; he'd been stationed on board the Battlestar _Triton_ at the time of the Cylon attack. Alex was out on CAP orbiting Gemenon when the Basestars had jumped in and annihilated Commander Jonasson and the rest of his shipmates in less than a minute. There were no launched escape pods, or Vipers, or Raptors before it was nuked out of existence. The com lit up as the two Vipers on patrol howled with impotent rage. Midway through their curses they were cut off, and Alex was forced to watch as they too were blown away.

Alex leaned his forehead against the wall of the shower and gripped his dog tags in his fist. He should have died there too; Crash knew that. But the Gods had spared him, for whatever reason. The Raiders continued to pour off the Basestar's arms and he did the only thing he could: he ran. Lt. Quartararo flipped his Raptor around and spooled up the FTL for a jump to Caprica, the capitol. He didn't do it fast enough, though, and a missile nicked the back of the craft right as the FTL engaged. The next thing he knew he was waking up in the sickbay of the _Rising Star_ two days later. He'd come out of the jump directly in front of the civilian vessel, and they'd taken him on board. As soon as he was capable, Crashdown reported to the _Galactica_ and had been Boomer's ECO and partner ever since.

So much death. They'd all seen it. His story was slightly different than the others, yeah, but no less tragic. The end of the worlds were kind to none of them. Crash didn't notice the water had turned cold around him until it was no longer falling. He pulled himself off of the wall and turned around to face whoever had shut the shower off. Maggie was holding out his towel with a neutral expression on her face, and he took it, wrapping it around his waist before trying to step around her.

She wouldn't let him past. "Alex. Talk to me," she implored softly.

"No. Leave me alone. I can handle this," he responded shortly.

"I know you **can**. But you don't have to."

"Why the frak do you care, Maggie?" he spat.

"Because I do."

Alex felt the anger leave him as quickly as it had flared up and he sagged nearly falling to his knees. "I'm a soldier," he told her. "I've seen death. I've killed. I've nearly been killed, more times than I can remember just these last three months. I know I'm not gonna last long out here; I've accepted that. But, I just. I just can't. I can't, Maggie, and I don't know why."

Maggie reached out and touched his shoulder. "Alex, I know you must-"

"He moved so fast." Alex interrupted her. "Apollo. One second Sharon was raising her arm and he was all the way across the CIC and then I blinked and Adama was on the ground and Apollo was leaning back, like he was resting against the center console. Just relaxing. But there was blood already seeping out, and he slid down to the ground and I just stood there and watched and barely even noticed when the marines finally took Boomer down." He was speaking fast, too fast, but he was only going to be able to say this once and Alex needed to get it all out. "Adama got up and just looked at Lee and then, then it was the most gut-wrenching sound I've ever heard, Maggie, ever. The Old Man screamed and he grabbed Lee and wouldn't let go for anything until Ishay put him to sleep. Apollo had already passed out but the blood was still pouring everywhere and they threw him on the gurney and ran the frak out of the CIC. It looked bad, Maggie, it looked so frakking bad."

Maggie was quiet for a minute while Alex again was forced to catch his breath and slow his heart. "Alex, you're in shock." She began. "That's OK. We all are, to a point… but you were there. You saw it. And it was Boomer. She was your pilot and the bitch turned out to be the frakking enemy. I still can't believe it, and I didn't know her nearly as well as you, or the Chief did. It's normal to react this way. You'll be fine, Alex. Trust me."

Alex leaned to the side and rested his head against Maggie's. "Yeah. I'll be alright," he repeated.

* * *

Kara couldn't believe it. Karl. Karl was alive. Karl was **alive** and he was **here** and he was holding her and he was alive and- "Oh, Gods, I **left** you here!"

"Hey hey hey, don't say that, Kara,' Karl told her. He rubbed his sister's back soothingly and continued to hold her. "You did not leave me. I should be dead now, I know that. I'm damned lucky."

Kara leaned back far enough to look into her brother's face. "But you didn't die, Karl! You've been stuck here for months and I didn't even **try** to see if you were still alive."

"Kara. There's no use second-guessing. I stayed here, and you stayed with _Galactica_, where you were needed. You did the right thing, Kara."

"Karl… if it had been me left behind would you have stayed away?"

"Don't ask me that, Kara. It didn't happen. You're here now. That's what matters."

Kara sighed and buried her face in Karl's chest. "You're right. You're right. Gods, I missed you so much. It's been so hard…"

"Hey, I bet you handled it just fine, little sister. You're strong, you know that."

She smiled. He was constantly reassuring her. She'd missed that so much. Finally she let go of him and took a step back. "So," she couldn't help herself. "How **are** you still alive? I know you're capable and everything, but I didn't seen anybody else on my flyover."

Karl looked nervous now. He looked away, and wouldn't meet her gaze. "You trust me."

"Of course." There was no question.

"Well… I'm not exactly alone here. Um, I've got a… friend. But you're not gonna like it. I need you to promise me you're not gonna fly off the handle or anything."

"Karl, you're freaking me out. Just say what you need to say."

He sighed and turned his gaze upwards, to the second level he'd dropped from. Kara's jaw dropped and she froze again as everything fell in to place. Standing there above the two of them was Sharon Valerii. Sharon Valerii, who Kara had left with the rest of the fleet back on _Galactica_. Which could only mean one thing. "Sharon's a Cylon," she said evenly.

Sharon smiled hesitantly and her hand rose in a weak wave. "Hey, Starbuck."

Kara turned back towards her brother. "Explain, now."

He scratched his head and gave her a sheepish look that told her way too much. "Oh, Karl, you didn't. You didn't frak a toaster."

"I… I kind of did, Kara. It's hard to explain."

'Well you better frakking start right now so I don't put a bullet in Sharon the Cylon's head!"

Karl looked panicked and held out his hands in a defensive gesture. "OK, OK, I'll tell you, just please, let me say it all, let me tell you everything before you say something. Please."

Kara nodded reluctantly and Karl began to tell her what had happened to him over the past two months. He told her about running into Sharon and being "saved" from the Cylons, and figuring out that Sharon was not Boomer. She snorted when Karl recounted confronting Sharon about being a Cylon, and then still deciding to stay with her. Karl blushed and looked away when he admitted to sleeping with her, and then finding out she was pregnant.

Kara had to sit down. None of this made any frakking sense. How could Karl impregnate a machine? He didn't say the words but she could tell he loved Sharon. She sighed wearily. "Gods, Karl, you have worse taste than I do, now."

He laughed weakly at her. "You think I don't know it? It's frakked up but I can't just let her go."

The woman in question cleared her throat and they turned to look at her. "Guys, I know you're not finished here, but we need to move. Cylon patrols are going to come looking at your Raider any time now, Starbuck, and we should get as far gone as we can."

Starbuck swore when she realized the implications of what Sharon said. "Frak, the Raider's only big enough for one person. If I'm gonna take you… and Sharon back with me we're gonna need to steal a new ship."

The three exited the museum and set off deeper into the city. Kara rented an apartment in Delphi where she lived when on leave from _Galactica_ and, for now, it was as good a place to stop as any. The place was pretty run down inside, dust covering the furniture and bug carcasses in the corners. Karl went over to the kitchen and rummaged through before triumphantly holding up a single package of noodles. "This is like a feast," he told Sharon. "Kara would rather wear a dress than go grocery shopping."

He continued to poke around the kitchen while Kara and Sharon sat in the living room. Starbuck stared at the Cylon unabashedly. She remembered the first time she'd met Sharon Valerii. The shy young woman had just entered flight school and was set to fly Raptors if she passed. She had, brilliantly, and Kara had always wondered why Sharon had never tried to fly a Viper. Boomer had gotten on easily with Karl, and through him Kara had befriended her as well. She'd thought for a time the two would become a couple, but for some reason it never quite happened. No, not for "some reason". Kara knew why Sharon and Karl had never dated. Karl didn't want her to find out their secret. It was easy enough to just sleep around and move on before a partner noticed any weird behaviors or sudden bouts of strength. Kara had avoided Zak for months before she finally gave in to a date with him.

Well, it looked like Sharon had been hiding a secret of her own. Karl said Boomer didn't know who she was, and Kara was inclined to agree it made sense, but this other Sharon might still be lying to them. She was pissed her brother had told the Cylon about Manticore. That was more than dangerous. It was working out so far, but what would happen in the future? Sharon might not willingly give up their secret, but if the Cylons got a hold of her she might not have a choice. Everything in her brain could be converted into data and analyzed and the Cylons would know they were dealing with super-human soldiers in addition to the Colonial refugees. Kara didn't know if any other X-series had survived, but if anybody had, she'd put money on the transgenics.

She cleared her throat and Sharon's eyes flickered to hers. "So. Sharon. May I ask what your intentions are in regards to my brother?"

Kara smirked as Sharon's face twitched. She was clearly trying to treat the question seriously, but Kara had purposely started her interrogation with the ridiculous question.

After a moment Sharon composed herself and began to speak. "Helo is the father of my child, Starbuck. That's the most important thing to me."

"Important enough to turn your back on your people?" Starbuck challenged.

Sharon met her glare unflinchingly. "Yes. My people would not let me raise this child. They'd take my child from me and then dissect me- and Helo if they got a hold of him- to see what made us so special. I'd never get to see my baby. I won't fight for somebody who could do that."

Kara… Kara wanted to believe her. Gods, but she did. For Karl's sake if no other reason. But that wasn't it, she knew. She looked into Sharon's eyes and remembered torturing Leobon. She knew that the Cylons were machines. Extremely sophisticated bio-organic machines, but still machines. And yet, they really weren't that different from her. She was an X5, she'd been created the same way Sharon had. She hadn't any choice. She was made to be a soldier for Manticore, and had run the first chance she got. Wasn't that what Sharon was doing now?

She sighed and finally replied. "I don't like this. I don't like that Karl had to choose you, of all beings to fall for. This whole frakked up situation is gonna cause a shit storm to fall on Karl and I'm not gonna be able to bash the skulls of every single person who tries to start something. But, Sharon… you're really frakking lucky. If it'd been anybody other than Karl, and me, here with you… but, I think I get it. My brother and I, we're not that different, in a lot of ways, from you. I don't fully trust you but… I'm wiling to give you a chance."

Behind her Karl let out a whoop and she found herself crushed as he picked her up and swung her around in delight. "Thanks, Kara," he whispered in her ear.

"Hey, I'm not doing this just for you, Karl. If I felt for a second Sharon was dangerous to you I'd put a bullet in her head in a second. Don't doubt that. Either of you," she said turning towards Sharon.

The woman nodded solemnly. "I believe you, Starbuck. I trust you'll watch over Helo from more than just me."

Starbuck laughed and smacked her brother in the arm. "I'm always keeping him out of trouble, don't worry.' She sobered and looked up at her brother as he walked over to Sharon. "Adama won't like it, you know. Sharon will probably be locked in the brig for months, at the very least. And that's not to say what might happen with the other Sharon."

Sharon sighed and nodded. "I realize it's not going to be easy. But it's my choice. I can't do anything for Boomer, though. As a sleeper agent there's no way to guarantee her subconscious programming won't try to assert itself, even when she learns she's a Cylon. She has to die."

* * *

Bill didn't leave the sickbay for three days after he woke up. At first he was furious he'd been sedated, but after forcing himself to calm down he was able to put things into perspective better. It was the right call. From what Bill could remember he wasn't letting the medics get to Lee and they'd been correct to knock him out so they could get to his son.

If Lee weren't still unconscious Bill would probably have been embarrassed. Cottle'd been in the middle of operating on Lee when Adama had woken up, and he knew he had to speak to the man as soon as possible. He and Lee had decided against telling Cottle of Lee's extra-human genetics, and the doctor would need to know now in order to treat his son. The old doctor was pissed when Adama forced him from surgery, and tried to have him sedated again before Adama managed to tell him about Lee's physiology. Lee had told his father that he healed at an accelerated rate, and with his supercharged metabolism needed at least three times the dosage of drugs for them to have any effect. It wouldn't do for Lee to wake up during surgery. Cottle had nodded shortly at his Commander before returning to the operating table and barking out new orders for his nurses.

After Bill had worn a path into the sickbay floor pacing Cottle finally emerged from the operating room. He headed straight over to Adama and ordered him into his office. Cottle reported that Lee was finally stable. The bullets had completely collapses his right lung and the left had come a hair away from shattering his spinal cord as it ripped through his body. Normally the doctor wouldn't have hesitated to pronounce Lee extremely critical, but the new information made him wary of making any declarations as to the Captain's condition. Bill had reluctantly confessed the truth of Lee's origin and upbringing to the gruff doctor, who to his credit managed to not look at his Commander as if he had lost his mind. He'd then proceeded to yell at Adama, calling him "a damned fool who nearly lost his son by keeping this silent."

He was right. Bill knew that. But it had been Lee's call, and he'd respected his son's wishes. He'd have kept Lee's secret from anything, anybody, but not now that his health was at risk. Bill didn't have a complete knowledge of the physiological differences between X5's and humans, so Lee HAD to wake up. If he didn't…

That had been almost three days ago. Bill had declared himself unfit for duty, and Cottle and Tigh had reluctantly agreed. Bill would not be of any use while his son was lying in a hospital bed. He was still able to keep up with a bit of paperwork, though, sitting in the sickbay. He'd been furious when Saul came in the second day and told him they needed a new CAG. His friend barely managed to placate Bill while he explained- with Lee in sickbay, Starbuck AWOL, and Boomer a traitor, there was no clear chain of command. His three highest-ranking pilots were all unavailable. He'd looked up who the next highest ranked pilot was, and to his surprise it was Crashdown.

Crashdown. The young lieutenant had stopped by late the first day with Racetrack to see how Apollo was doing. It was clear to Adama the Raptor pilot was a bit shaken by what had happened. He knew Lee wasn't particularly close to Crash, but Adama could see that witnessing the shooting had done something to the young man. Bill thanked them both for coming and promised an announcement when Lee's condition was more definite. That hadn't stopped the pair from coming back each day so far. The next couple of days several other members of the crew had stopped by to visit Lee. Cally and the Chief came together. Bill took a minute to remember how hard this would be on Galen Tyrol. The man had been in a relationship with Sharon Valerii, and had been just as surprised as any of them at Boomer's betrayal. Bill could see the guilt on his face as he'd tried to apologize.

It had hit Bill with a pang the second night to realize how little the crew seemed to know his son. All Lee's visitors were friendly and respectful, yes, but they all spoke of him as "Apollo", "The CAG" and "Captain Adama". None of them saw him as Lee. _He couldn't let anybody close to him_, Bill thought sadly. _How long have I just assumed Lee was surrounded by friends?_ Gods, he wished desperately Starbuck were here. Lee and Kara's friendship had always been famously mercurial, even when Kara had been engaged to Zak. They had a connection he'd never seen Lee make with any other person, even- especially- Bill himself. Lee had been wrecked when Kara fled for Caprica, and Bill knew his son would be a mess if Starbuck didn't make it back.

Bill sighed and gathered his papers together. Cottle was letting him stay in sickbay all day but flatly refused to let the Commander sleep there with his son. He was just about ready to go when he heard a soft rustling coming from the bed. He whipped his head around in time to see Lee's eyes flutter open. Moving to his son's side Bill grabbed his hand and leaned over so Lee could see him. "Lee? It's Dad. I'm here, son." The blue eyes managed to focus on Bill for a moment and he felt Lee weakly squeeze his hand before his eyelids closed. Lee was asleep again. This was good news, though. Cottle had had no idea when Lee would wake up, or what condition he'd be in so his son's recognition of Bill could only be a positive. Smiling for the first time in recent memory Adama went to tell Cottle of the development.

Lee woke again the next day. He'd started shifting in his sleep shortly before waking and Bill knew his wounds would be causing him discomfort. They were well on the way to healing; according to Cottle it already looked as if he'd been shot more than a week ago but he was still a bit weak from having lost so much blood. They'd been able to remove Lee from the life support equipment the second day, and Lee tried to speak as soon as he'd woken up. Bill grabbed him a cup of water and Lee nodded his thanks. "How long was I down for?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"It's been four days since the Cylon shot you, Lee."

Lee winced. "Four days? Must've gotten hit pretty bad. Never been out that long from a gunshot before…"

That was the wrong thing to say. "Excuse me?" Bill hissed. "How many times have you been shot, Lee?"

"Three times now… Other two were on missions for Manticore." He admitted quietly.

Bill rubbed his face tiredly. "I really wish I knew these things about you, Lee."

His son looked uncomfortable with that remark, but was saved from responding when Doc Cottle came by, ubiquitous cigarette in mouth. "Looks like Superman here is awake." he commented dryly.

Lee's eyes widened and he looked right at Bill. "Dad, what-?"

"I had to tell him, son. It might have killed you to keep your status a secret."

His son held his gaze for a moment before looking back at the doctor. "In that case, any problems doc?" His tone indicated he was asking about more than just his health.

"You're healing perfectly fine, Captain, and I don't give a frak if you're half walrus. You are one of my patients and a member of this fleet so I'll care for you to the best of my abilities regardless of your… species."

Lee looked equal parts relieved and annoyed at the response. "Cat," he mumbled petulantly. "I'm half cat, not walrus."

Bill laughed at his son's attitude. If he was already annoyed he was definitely going to be fine.

* * *

Lee was restless. It had only been two days since he woke up and other than some lingering fatigue and slight itching of his wounds he was ready to get out of sickbay. X5's were not meant to sit still for long periods of time. They needed less sleep than a normal person did and that meant that even while his body was healing he had plenty of time to count the cracks in the ceiling. Zero. It was a metal ceiling. He wasn't even allowed to do paperwork, even though, as he'd pointed out, he hadn't been shot in the head so his mental faculties were very much intact, thank you. His schedule was messed up; when he did manage to get a bit of rest it always tended to fall in the middle of the day. As a result he'd missed his father's visits on the occasions he'd stopped by. Lee had insisted the Commander get back on duty once he'd woken; he was going to be fine so there was so reason for the Commander to stay in sickbay all the time anymore. Also, to be honest, pleased as he was his dad was so willing to be by his side Lee was starting to feel a bit… smothered. Coming in regards to Bill Adama that was definitely an unusual feeling for Lee. He needed some time to process the change in their relationship his being shot seemed to have initiated.

_Gods I wish Kara was here_ he thought to himself. She'd know how he should act with this. That is, assuming Kara would even come to visit him while he was sitting in sickbay. He wanted to think that, whatever their problems were she would… but he really didn't know. He still didn't know what had set Kara off so badly; even at the best of times she was extremely reluctant to open up about herself. Lee had never felt right in trying to push her either, considering the secret he was carrying around. _The secret that's not so secret anymore_. He hadn't physically seen anybody outside of the sickbay staff since he'd been shot but according to his father the entire CIC was buzzing about how fast he'd moved to knock him out of the way. That could've been attributed to adrenaline, but now Lee was about ready to walk out of sickbay within a week of a near fatal shooting. There was nothing normal about that.

That was a large part of why Cottle was refusing to let him out. He was still sore, true, and the wounds were liable to re-open if he exerted himself yet, but most normal patients would be nearly ready to leave if they were as healed as Lee was. He was just three weeks ahead of schedule, that's all. Lee sighed in frustration. The last time he'd talked to his father he'd learned Roslin was still in the brig. Adama admitted to his son that his actions were a bit "hasty" but had yet to admit that they had been downright illegal. Lee was working on him, but the Commander flat out refused to let Roslin out to pay him a visit when he'd asked the other day.

That thought in mind, Lee made his decision. He gently swung his legs over the side of the bed and froze. Footsteps were entering the sickbay, and from the sound of them they were heading straight for his bed. Frak. He hauled himself back up and sat back to wait. It wasn't his father; the footfalls were different from the Old Man's. The person soon came into view. "Hey, Crashdown," he said with a small smile.

"Sir," the lieutenant saluted quickly. "It's good to see you awake, Captain."

"Stop being so formal, Crash, I'm laying here in a frakking dress. Besides I've heard this isn't the first time you've stopped by for a visit."

Crashdown smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I've been by a few times since... It was pretty frakked seeing what happened. I felt a bit guilty, to be honest."

Lee frowned. "Guilty? About what? Because Boomer was your partner?" The man nodded shortly. "Lieutenant, I'm only going to say this once, so listen up."

His shift in tone caused Crashdown to straighten up unconsciously. "None of this is even remotely your fault. You hear me? None of us had a clue. If we're going to play the blame game then the Chief should've known because he was frakking Sharon, **I** should have known because Boomer was one of **my** pilots, and my father should have known because he was Lt. Valerii's commanding officer. None of us knew. How could we?"

"It still feels like I should have done something, Apollo. I was _standing right there_. I saw her raise her arm and I didn't move."

"You couldn't have done anything. Even I barely got there on time to shove Commander Adama out of the way and take the shots."

"You did move really frakking quick… I have no idea how that happened. Or, come to think about it, how you're so up and at 'em already, sir."

Lee cleared his throat uneasily and looked away. "Yeah, well, I guess it's pretty obvious I've been holding out on all of you. I'm not gonna say anything else, because it's still going to cause trouble, but… yeah. None of this is miraculous or anything. Just me."

Crashdown watched Lee, clearly trying to make up his mind before shrugging. "Sure thing, Apollo. I trust you."

"Good. Now, how about you run to my bunk and grab me some tanks and pants. I need to visit someone."

"Who, the President? She hasn't stopped by yet?"

Lee blinked at the man. "How could she? She's still in the brig."

"Captain, the Commander and Roslin gave a press conference this morning. They came to some sort of understanding, I guess, and announced a "new start for peace and unity in the fleet" and all kinds of crap. Announced Roslin's belief that she is the "dying leader" foretold in the scriptures. Nearly started a riot on some of the ships. Scuttlebutt has it the Old Man's even going to personally go with the President to Kobol whenever Starbuck gets back.

Lee closed his eyes and counted to ten in an attempt to calm down. It didn't work. "Are you frakking kidding me?! Why have I not heard any of this?!"

"Perhaps, Captain Apollo, the President was simply waiting until all was resolved to come and tell you herself?" Laura Roslin spoke in an amused tone as she came into sight.

"Madam President," Lee nodded cautiously. "I'm glad to see you're no longer taking up residence in the brig."

"And I am pleased that the reports of your death seem to have been greatly exaggerated, Captain. Lieutenant," She nodded at Crashdown as he slipped past her to leave. "As I was saying, Captain. Your father and I only just reached an accord this morning, and the Quorum insisted on a press conference immediately after."

Lee sighed but accepted her reply. "Well then? What did you two decide?"

Roslin smiled softly as she sat in the chair besides his bed. "As you can see, Adama admitted that arresting me was the wrong decision. He came down to my cell yesterday and we discussed a great many things. When he mentioned that you'd been shot by Valerii I damn near ripped the arm off our marine guard trying to come see you before your father calmed me down." She paused for a moment, eyes flickering over Lee as if to assure herself that he was, in fact, alive. "I apologized to the Commander for breaking the protocol we'd established. Truly, I did it feeling as if it were the only option I could take. I regret the means, but not the ends."

"Will it still be worth it if Kara doesn't come back from Caprica, Madam President?" He couldn't help asking.

"This purpose is more important than one life, Captain. You know that. I will mourn Lt. Thrace if she does not make it back to the fleet, but I have faith in her. She will succeed," Roslin stated firmly.

"Alright, so you agreed about your actions. What about his?"

"The Commander was… still in conflict when he came to see me. He admitted a part of him was pleased to see me sitting in the brig. But then, he said something surprising. Adama told me that he was going to release me, because, as a Colonial Officer he had sworn himself to defend the Articles of Colonization, and arresting me was in violation of his oaths."

Lee smiled as he heard the words he'd said to his father the day after he'd woken up in sickbay. _Guess Dad really took my words to heart_. That thought filled Lee with a warm feeling he was unfamiliar with. He'd given up hope of ever gaining his father's approval after deciding to go against his orders on _Colonial One_, and to hear that his father knew he was right was more than he'd ever expected to hear. He looked Roslin in the eyes and decided, for once, to be blunt with the woman. "So basically," he began casually. "you both decided you'd frakked up and that compromise and forgiveness were the best course to take?"

The President chuckled at his words. "Yes, Captain Apollo, that is exactly what I am saying. The Commander and I agreed to begin anew." She stood from her chair. "Now, I also told your father that I would not disturb you for too long, as you needed your rest- mystery speed healing or not."

Lee groaned and fell back against his pillow. "Is it too late for my dad to send you back to the brig, Madam President?"

* * *

The most beneficial part of stopping by Kara's apartment was the acquisition of her car keys. She owned an old military jeep that was still intact and fueled inside her garage space. Karl had always had mixed feelings about the vehicle; it ran perfectly fine but the way Kara drove made every trip a possible death sentence. The plan was still to head towards the air base at Delphi, but now that Kara had informed them just how far away the fleet was, Karl knew simply stealing a Raptor was no longer an option. It was designed for short scouting missions, not making long treks through space. At Sharon's advice they would attempt to steal a Heavy Raider. The Cylon equivalent of a Raptor was best suited to getting them back to Kobol.

After clearing the city and making their way to the forest roads leading to the air base Kara pulled the car over so they could decide the best course of action. Karl was pointing out a series of trails that would lead them right up to the airbase. "These are good, real clear paths, but if I were the Cylons it'd be exactly where I'd expect people to come through."

"Helo's right," Sharon said. "My people overload security on the obvious, logical points of access; find a way in that isn't used for entry and we should be able to slip past."

Kara started to respond when Karl quickly raised a hand to silence her. He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes as he listened for… there. A branch snapped a few dozen yards off the road, and he could just make out the soft rustling of movement through the brush. He looked at Kara and made quick hand signals telling her what he was hearing. Of course, his sister immediately decided that she would go to investigate. Karl didn't like it, but had to admit that she was a much smaller target and would be more likely to slip away unnoticed. A quick nod, and she'd blurred away.

Karl turned back towards Sharon and walked calmly over to the lock box Kara kept her rifles in. "Sharon," he told her in a conversational tone. "We're not alone. I'm gonna need you to move to the other side of the car and not move unless I tell you to, alright? Keep out of sight."

Sharon scowled in displeasure at being ordered to stay out of the fight, but Helo knew she wouldn't argue. Not with their baby a risk to consider now. He pulled the rifle out of the lock box and swung it over his shoulder but kept looking down like he was still studying the map. _Any time now, Kara…_

A brief shout echoed through the trees and Karl hefted the rifle around to aim towards the source. A moment later Kara walked out holding the neck of a man with her handgun planted firmly against his temple. The pair were followed by a group of men and women all pointing guns at Kara but clearly unwilling to risk what had to be their leader's life. Karl smirked; the man was easily as tall as he was, so it had to be uncomfortable to be bent so low. The man was young, probably not more than a few years older than Helo, and had light brown hair and an attractive face marred by an impotent scowl. An attractive, familiar face.

Karl's smirk turned into a grin and before he could help himself he was laughing as he watched Kara haul her prize back out into the road. Kara frowned and the man she was with only scowled further. He opened his mouth to snarl. "What the frak are you laughing at chuckles?"

Kara smacked him in the head with her gun. "Hey, play nice with my brother, Hostage."

Karl finally stopped laughing enough to talk to his sister. "Starbuck, you know who that is, don't you?"

"Hostage? No, not really. Should I?"

"That right there is Samuel T. Anders, captain and star player of the Caprica Buccaneers. And those guys," he pointed at the rest of the group entering the clearing. "would be the rest of the C-Bucks. We've got ourselves a Pyramid squad here, 'Buck."

* * *

AN: In case you're worried, Kara is just teasing Sam. There will be no character bashing of him in this story.


	10. The Unknown Soldier

AN: Alright, finally got this one finished. It's shorter than the last couple chapters but it's pretty much a transition before we go on to Kobol. Also, the introduction of a new character :D Not sure when chapter 10 will be ready, I'm hoping to start on it tomorrow but I've got a busy weekend ahead of me so the goal is by Next Thursday at the latest. Slight show quote stealage from Sharon's speech in here.

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Unknown Soldier**

Kara grinned happily in response to Karl's announcement and rubbed Anders' face with the butt of her gun in a pseudo gentle way. "Aw, Hostage, is your name Sammy? What are you and your buddies up to here in the big bad woods?"

"Killing Cylons," he hissed.

"Whatever made you think we were Cylons?"

"We saw one of the brunette females in your damn car, you bitch. Ow, let me go!" he howled as she smacked him again.

Kara tightened her grip on Anders' neck. The rest of the C-Bucs started to raise their guns but Karl responded in kind indicating a shoot out would not be a smart idea at present time. "Now, let's just get something straight here, Hostage. Helo and I," she flicked her head to Karl. "are not Cylons. We're pilots, Colonial Fleet. The third member of our party is, in fact, a Cylon, but Sharon is… a nice skinjob. And she belongs to Helo, so she's on the home team Sammy."

Karl frowned when Kara referred to Sharon as 'belonging' to him, when he realized that on some level his sister was right. No matter what happened here on out he knew that Sharon was his, and he was hers. Their unborn child guaranteed at least that much. He focused back on the conversation in time to take the reins from Kara. "Now, folks, we don't want to spill any blood here so how about you all put your weapons down and I'll get my sister here to let Mr. Anders have his head back. Attached, I mean."

The pyramid team all looked uneasy at the proposed idea, but relented after a moment of silent communication among the group. Kara moved back to stand by Karl, and opened her mouth to speak when Sharon called out. "Uh, guys, this is fun but we've got movement out behind where the C-Bucs just came from. You all expecting any company?"

Helo moved to the edge of the road and looked through the trees to the movement beyond them. "Frak," he swore. "There's a group of Centurions heading straight at us. We need to move it, people!"

Anders sighed and began to follow Karl. He muttered to the woman next to him- Jean Barolay, Karl knew- and obviously meant for his words to be private. "We need to keep an eye on these guys. If they get shifty we have to take them out."

Karl snorted to himself and took up the lead position with Sharon as they made their way off of the road. Kara was in the rear next to Anders, who didn't seem to want her out of his sight. The group trotted through the woods for several minutes, quickly gaining distance on the Centurions behind them. The moment the C-Bucs began to relax Helo spotted more movement ahead of them. "Kara, we've got more Centurions up ahead. Looks like… six of them."

"You need any help with 'em?" his sister called up.

"No, I've got it. I'm moving ahead."

"What do you mean you're going by yourself- are you crazy?" Barolay looked at Karl like he'd grown a second head. "You better be packing grenades or something, nobody can handle six chromejobs by themselves!"

Helo grinned predatorily and responded drily. "I guess I'm an idiot then." With that he sprinted forward, swinging the assault rifle off of his shoulder and coming in at an angle to the incoming Centurions. They were a hundred yards away in a particularly dense section of trees and undergrowth. Karl studied his surroundings before taking a running leap up into a tall tree with branches thick enough to support his weight. He straddled a particularly thick branch and leaned forward onto his elbows. As far as 384 could tell the Cylons hadn't spotted his advancement, still intent on reaching the others.

Lining up the first in his rifle's sights he squeezed the trigger twice before shifting aim and targeting the next two Centurions. The head of the third blew up by the time the others had managed to whip out their arm cannons and began tracking the incoming shots. They opened fire as Helo took out the fourth. He quickly rose from his straddling position and ran along the branch, swinging the rifle over his shoulder again before launching out of the tree towards the ground. He leapt forward, grabbing a branch directly in front of the remaining pair and used it to quickly flip over. Building up momentum with the action, Helo swung around to the bottom of his arc before releasing the branch and flying straight at the leading Centurion. Both of 384's booted feet smashed heavily into the toasters metal chest plate. The impact knocked the Cylon off its feet and dented in the metal as Karl and it both landed heavily on the ground. Karl pulled out his sidearm and fired three bullets into the machine's neck joint before rolling away and rising to blur behind a large rock to his right. The final Centurion began to clank around to his position and Karl easily hopped on top of the boulder to come up behind the Cylon and again fired a series of bullets straight into the vulnerable metal of the Centurion's neck.

Karl dropped back onto the ground and surveyed his handiwork. One of the toasters was twitching slightly, so Karl walked over and wrenched the head the rest of the way off with a swift tug. He looked up as Sharon, Kara, and the C-Bucs reached his position. Sharon was smirking as she walked up and Jean looked like she'd seen a ghost. Her already pale skin was nearly translucent, standing in stark contrast to her red hair. She swallowed nervously as she looked at the destroyed shells of the Centurions.

"You… you just… all six. By yourself. That was-"

"Adequate," Helo interrupted her. "I shouldn't have needed to pull that little stunt at the end to get the last toaster." He looked back to Kara. "We all good from your end?"

Grinning at the stunned faces around her Kara confirmed all was well and they moved on. Their goal, Karl decided, was a hospice located back at the edge of Delphi. Luckily they hadn't moved too far out of the city on the aborted drive to the airstrip so they wouldn't need to go too much further to return. Karl kept the lead as they neared the building in silence. It was a small, one story structure with what looked like only about ten rooms for patients as far as Helo could tell from the outside. He led the way in and stopped to listen for any movement. Immediately he detected the soft beep of machinery from at least one of the rooms- there was still power.

Kara joined Karl as he walked down the hallway towards the still functioning hospice room. The pair stopped short as they looked inside. The medical room was more than just active; it was occupied. Lying unconscious in the bed was a young woman with dark hair and pale skin. She was young Karl noted, a few years younger than he and his sister. There was a medical file sitting on the nightstand right next to her and he could just make out the name on top: _Rachel Berrisford_. That wasn't what caught Helo's attention, however. Sitting in a chair with this back to the doorway was a man. From behind Karl could see his dirty blond hair, greasy and stiff with grime. The hair was a bit overgrown, falling down to hit near the base of the man's nape.

Poking out of the bottom of the dirty locks was a Manticore barcode.

Karl inhaled sharply at the sight- a Manticore soldier, here? He looked over to Kara, who looked just as surprised as he was. They exchanged a few helpless _what now?_ glances. In the midst of their silent debate the transgenic- 494, the barcode read- spoke up in a voice husky with disuse. "You can come in, you know."

Kara cleared her throat and hesitantly walked further into the room to get a better look at its occupant. Karl followed and rounding the bed he saw the face of the X5. His features were typical of Manticore stock- perfect and attractive to the point of beautiful. He'd clearly been neglecting himself, though. 494's green eyes were wary, but the dull and hollow look they held cut down whatever suspicion they might be holding. The thin shirt 494 wore was loose, too loose, and Karl could tell 494 had lost a lot of weight in his… vigil?

"Hi," Kara spoke cautiously. "My name is Kara, and this is Karl." Leaving out their designations told Helo plainly she didn't want to announce their shared heritage.

494's eyes flickered between them for a moment. He didn't reply immediately and Karl fought the urge to shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny. "You're Manticore," 494 finally said quietly.

Karl didn't see any reason to deny it at that point. "We were," he nodded. "Not anymore."

494 smiled sadly. "No, not anymore. Me either." His gaze turned to look at the woman again.

"Can I… can I ask what you're doing here?" Kara asked politely.

Again there was a long pause before 494 answered. "Watching. Waiting." His gaze didn't move from Rachel. "What else would I be doing?"

"I don't know, fighting? There's an entire system of toasters out there, and you're holding vigil in a hospice?"

494 looked up sharply at Kara's incredulous tone. "Fight? What, by myself?" he snarled. "I **did** fight. I fought, and I lost. This is all I have left."

"You've given up." Kara was disgusted, Karl could tell. He knew it was time to leave 494 alone.

"Come on, Starbuck," he said to her. "We need to get Anders and his people back somewhere safe. Let's leave 494 here by himself."

Something about his words seemed to perk 494 up a bit. "You found people? How many?"

Karl nodded. "Twenty-one are with us and a bunch more are hiding out somewhere nearby. Just now, actually. We're returning them to their base. They've… formed a resistance, I guess."

494 closed his eyes for a moment. Karl waited. It seemed the man was decided something. "I haven't…" 494 paused for a moment. "I haven't seen anyone since three days after the attack. I, I thought they were all dead."

"No," Kara responded. "Not at all. If these guys have made it so far… there's probably more out there, and on the other worlds."

494 stood up slowly. He was just shorter than Helo was. 494 looked hesitantly at the siblings. "Can I… come with you?"

Karl could see no reason why he couldn't, and said as much. 494 nodded and then looked back at Rachel. "I'll need a minute," he said quietly.

Helo followed his sister out of the room to soft murmurs from 494. A moment later the steady beep of the life support came to an end.

* * *

Lee flopped down onto his rack with a groan of contentment. Freedom, finally. A week and a half after Boomer had shot him and he was out of sickbay. His release had not been announced amidst the excitement of the fleet jumping back into orbit around Kobol, and Cally's killing of Boomer during transfer to a more permanent cell. As a result Lee's walk through the corridors to the senior pilots bunk saw several people glance at him in surprise. A few looked a bit nervous and glanced behind Apollo, as if expecting to see Doc Cottle barrel down the hall looking to haul Lee back to sickbay. Lee hadn't minded, though. This was likely to be the calm before the storm in terms of his now public slightly extraordinary abilities. _Better get used to it._

The bunkroom was empty when Lee entered so he luxuriated in being completely alone while deciding what to do with the rest of his day. Cottle had cleared him for light duty- paperwork- beginning the next morning, which Lee could almost literally complete in his sleep. He was not approved for flight due to the even higher levels of scrutiny he'd be under if he returned to the cockpit so soon. Lee had another week until he'd be allowed to fly again.

Lee's silent contemplations were interrupted a moment later by the opening of the hatch. He craned his neck back to look at who'd entered before swinging his legs over the side of his rack. "Racetrack, Crashdown," he greeted the pair with a smile.

"Hey, Apollo," Crash replied with a grin of his own, looking pleased to see Lee. "Good to have you back, sir."

"Hey, I'm not flying just yet. But, lucky for you I'm well enough to take all the CAG paperwork off of your hands."

Racetrack, who'd been giving Lee a slightly awkward look, groaned in relief. "Oh thank the gods," she said. "I've been helping Alex with it and I completely apologize for any tightass remarks I've ever made about you sir. I don't know how you do it and fly CAP by yourself."

Lee laughed lightly for a moment. "My brain is a super-computer, 'Track, that's how."

Crashdown blinked. "See, after recent events I can't tell if you're really joking or not."

"Obviously it's not literally a computer, Crash," Lee shrugged. "The comparison is mostly accurate, though."

The pilots standing in front of Lee stared at him for a moment until Crash began to laugh. "Boy, Apollo you really were holding out on us, weren't you?"

Lee stood up and smiled at the man. "Guess I was. Now, I think my first act of freedom should be a real shower, so I'll catch you guys later." He turned his back to the pair to gather his towel and soap when Racetrack spoke up again.

"Hey, Apollo- when'd you get that tattoo?"

Forcing himself to remain calm Lee replied as casually as he was able. "I've had it for a while. It's just been… hiding," he finished as he turned around again. Crash and Racetrack looked a bit confused with his answer, but Lee just smiled and left the bunk to shower.

As Lee walked the short distance to the head he thought over how that meeting had just gone. He'd decided, pretty much on the fly, to admit that he was no slouch in the intellectual department_. If by 'no slouch' you mean able to make Baltar look as stupid as he is crazy_, he thought to himself wryly. Overall the pair hadn't seemed to take much stock in Lee's words, but that was probably because they didn't fully believe him. It'd be different when others in the crew actually **saw** him do something instead of hearing second hand. _Galactica_ was only going to get more interesting in the days ahead, Lee reflected as he finished his shower.

"_Captain Adama report to the CIC. Repeat, Captain Adama to the CIC immediately_." Dee's voice echoes throughout the ship. Three minutes later Lee was rushing through the hatch into CIC wearing his blue duty uniform. He walked straight over to his father and Colonel Tigh at the center console. Commander Adama turned to look at Apollo.

"We've just made DRADIS contact. Starbuck's back."

* * *

"So," Kara sat down next to 494 inside the cafeteria of Delphi Union High School. "You gonna tell us your story, soldier?"

494 glanced over at her and smirked for a moment. "I'll show you mine…"

"We told you who you are."

"You told me your names. That isn't all that you are. I'm not just 494."

Kara sighed. "You want the story? I'm 462 and Karl is 384."

494 blinked for a second. "You two are the frakking runaways! You know Lydecker never stopped looking for you?"

"I'll be he didn't," Kara's expression was predatory. "We ran around for a while before signing up for the Fleet. I'm a Viper pilot."

494 shook his head in amusement. "Shit. They never even bothered to look at the government…"

"That was the idea. Basically I'm here on a religious mission for the President, blah blah woof woof and now I need to get home." Kara finished flippantly. "Now, 494, your turn."

494's smile faded a bit now. "Rachel… was the daughter of a target of mine. I fell for her. Told her the truth about me. She got hit in the crossfire when Manticore pulled me out and took out her father. I got her killed." He looked away. "Messed me up for a long time. My… best friend finally pulled me out of it, after I'd gone through a couple stints in PsyOps."

494 stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the yellow stained clouds. "Max is out there, somewhere. She got sent to Picon the morning of the attack. I gave up hope, but if a bunch of Ordinaries could survive…"

Kara was silent for a moment out of respect for the man. "Your best friend has a name. Do you?"

"Alec. As in smart aleck. Max named me. Should've been the first clue right there. We were always the ones who beat the crap out of each other instead of admitting we loved each other." He smiled distantly again. "I figured I should find a way off planet to Picon. Might as well stay and help the Ordinaries when you two are gone and figure a way to steal another ship."

Kara nodded. "Sounds as good a plan as any, I guess. I'm sure Anders and the C-Bucs will appreciate your… expertise." She turned around as Karl, Sharon and Anders approached. "Any news for me and Alec, Helo?"

Karl's eyes flickered towards 'Alec' before responding. "Anders had his people stake out the airbase a few weeks ago, said there was always at least one Heavy Raider on the ground. Patrols were regular as well."

Anders confirmed. "Guards were strictly Centurion. If you get Sharon out ahead she might be able to get you past any new setups."

Kara grinned. "Alright then, let's get the frak off this rock." She turned and started to head away before pausing. Starbuck looked back at the two she was leaving behind. "We'll come back for you. I promise."

Alec smirked while Sam smiled a bit. "We'll hold you to that, Thrace," Sam responded drily. "Now get out of here."

It was only when they'd stolen the Raider and made the first jump back to the fleet that Kara remembered that Lee would be waiting for her. She was well aware she'd left the situation between them distant before she went AWOL. _Gods, please don't let me screw this up any more_.

* * *

Lee was nervous. His palms were sweating and if he'd fidgeted this much at Manticore he'd have been sent to Isolation for a week. Kara had requested that the Commander clear out the flight deck for her arrival, so the only others present were his father, the President, Colonel Tigh, Billy, and Elosha. As Kara's ship came up through the manual landing process Lee immediately took stock of the differences between the craft arriving and the one he'd seen Starbuck disappear in.

It was bigger for one, clearly a Cylon Raptor equivalent. It sported the same two gun turrets that adorned the smaller models. This craft was also designed to deliver a nuclear warhead of necessary, Apollo noted and had a boxlike appearance instead of the sleek winged predatory look of the smaller Raiders. Kara had implied to Commander Adama that she was not returning alone, which was what led to the private greeting request.

The Raider set down on the deck and the hatch opened. A moment later Kara Thrace's figure stood in the doorway. Lee practically felt Kara's presence in the second before she appeared. It'd always been like that for them; he'd been able to locate Kara inside of a room within moments and she'd been able to do the same. He didn't really understand why, but couldn't hide from himself the hope that she'd be happy to see him. Kara stopped before exiting the ship, a tentative expression on her face. Her eyes flickered over to Lee before she met the Commander's gaze. His father was smiling, Lee saw. "Welcome home, Starbuck." He told her as he stepped forward.

Kara finally stepped out onto the deck and smiled at the Old Man as he walked towards her. The Commander clasped her shoulder and whispered for a moment. "It's good to see you," he heard as his father enveloped Kara in his arms.

Lee twitched again as an unexpected emotion crept into his chest. _Am I… jealous?_ He wondered incredulously. _Didn't expect that_. Kara stepped back from his father before turning towards Laura Roslin. "Madam President," she said as she reached over her shoulder. "I think this is for you." In her hands a golden arrow. It looked ordinary, other than the color and a small spattering of diamonds on the tip. Lee wouldn't have given it a second glance if not for it's supposed significance.

Roslin took the arrow with a look of awe and relief upon her face. "Thank you, Lt. Thrace," she said gratefully. "This means so much to all of us."

Kara nodded before turning her attention back to the Commander, bypassing Lee again. "Sir… I didn't come back alone. I had some help on Caprica, not including the resistance we found. There are people alive there." She paused. "This is going to look bad, sir, I'll be blunt. But they were both instrumental in my mission and I wouldn't be here without either of them."

With that cryptic message she turned and called out "Helo". Helo. Lee recognized the name; the man he'd seen before _Galactica's_ decommissioning ceremony stepped out of the Raider. He presented himself to the Commander and stood at attention. His father smiled again. "Lt. Agathon. I'm glad you managed to survive. It's good to have you back."

"Thank you sir. As Starbuck said, though, I wouldn't be here without help."

Commander Adama turned back to Kara. "OK, Starbuck, out with it already."

Kara glanced at Agathon as he stepped back to the Raider. Another figure made her way through and came onto _Galactica_.

Sharon Valerii.

* * *

Sharon hovered out of sight in the Raider until Helo called for her. She had no doubts that her arrival would cause a stir on _Galactica_. Absently she wondered if Boomer had been found out yet, but before she could give it much thought Helo was beckoning her forward. Bracing herself Sharon stepped out of the ship, arms at her side and palms forward, showing that she was unarmed.

The effect was instantaneous; Adama's eyes widened dramatically before shuttering, Roslin's jaw dropped and Colonel Tigh looked ready to rip out her throat. Apollo looked faintly sick for a moment before presenting a mask of cool indifference. After an awkward silence Starbuck opened her mouth. "So…," she began awkwardly. "Turns out Boomer's a Cylon."

Both Adama's twitched at Kara's words and the President's aid looked ready to turn and run. Colonel Tigh hadn't moved his eyes from Sharon but directed his loathing hiss at Starbuck. "Yes, Lieutenant, we noticed when the traitorous filth put two bullets in Captain Adama's chest."

Oh. That didn't bear well for her, she knew. Again Sharon braced herself for the inevitable fight to keep her child safe.

* * *

Kara started violently at Tigh's words. Lee was shot? She turned to face him, finally, and saw that he was in fact paler than usual and seemed to be holding himself a bit stiffly. Other than that, though, he looked reasonably fine, if a little tired. She'd felt a jolt of electricity the moment she'd stepped onto _Galactica_ and had fought to keep from staring at him but now gave in. She met his clear blue eyes and immediately altered her gaze. _I can't deal with this now_, she thought desperately to herself. Her eyes swung over to Karl, who was inching slowly closer to Sharon. It would be up to her to keep Sharon safe.

"Sir, I don't have a clue what happened while I was gone. All I know is that this Sharon helped keep lt. Agathon alive for two months on Caprica and was instrumental in our gaining access to the Heavy Raider we got back in. She's done nothing but help us."

The Commander was clearly having a hard time keeping his composure faced with another image of Sharon Valerii. He looked hard into Starbuck's eyes. "Well, Lieutenant, what do you expect should happen with Ms. Valerii?"

Sharon cleared her throat hesitantly. Adama's hostile expression shifted to her. "Sir, I can help you."

Roslin spoke up. "Why should we trust anything you say?"

"Boomer was a sleeper agent." Sharon replied bluntly. "She believed she was human and her Cylon programming was kept hidden from her human persona. She didn't know what she was and couldn't stop what she did. I know what I am. I'm a Cylon, and I'm Sharon, but I'm a different Sharon. I've made my choice and that choice is to be here." She paused and looked straight at Roslin. "More important right now, I can help you find the Tomb of Athena."

Kara's eyes widened as she turned towards the other woman. This was news to her. "You can?"

Sharon nodded without looking away from the President. "Yes, I can. The ancient scrolls aren't specific about the Tomb's location but the Cylons have access to several older sources that allowed us to pinpoint an approximate location."

Nobody replied to Sharon's words. Kara shifted uncomfortably, knowing Karl would not let them airlock his… girlfriend. To her surprise it was Lee who spoke up. "I think we should give her a chance." Adama and Roslin looked stunned at his announcement. Lee didn't flinch but turned to look back at Sharon. "This isn't the same Cylon who shot me. If Starbuck and Helo are correct in saying that she's been cooperative, I think we should give her a chance to prove herself further."

The Commander glanced at the President and gave her a helpless sort of shrug. It was clear Adama didn't remotely like the situation but was choosing to defer to the President. Roslin sighed and responded a bit wearily. "Fine. We will let Sharon Valerii lead us to the Tomb of Athena. I would like to do this as soon as possible, Commander, so we should plan on leaving for Kobol's surface tomorrow."

Adama nodded in acceptance and turned back towards Kara. "If there's not anything else to report right now, Lieutenant."

Karl spoke up from beside her. "Actually, sir… there is one more thing you should know."


	11. This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed

AN: FINALLY done! Sorry for the delay, I got stuck on a few bits and then busy. But, this is the longest chapter so far, so that counts for something, right? A lot happens here, and it's taking things pretty far off track from the show, so I hope you like it.

* * *

**Chapter 10: This Apparatus Must be Unearthed **

Alec turned back towards Delphi Union high school as Kara and the others disappeared into the forest. Sam Anders was standing beside him. Alec evaluated the man as he continued to keep watch. He had a vague idea of who Sam was; Manticore hadn't let them watch sporting events but 494 had been on enough missions to come across a few pyramid games. It was lucky that half of the resistance was made of professional athletes; they'd all be in good shape and athletic enough to mold into decent enough soldiers.

Sam turned to face him but didn't say anything. Alec cleared his throat and met the taller man's stare. "So. Resistance, huh? How's that working out for you Sam?"

Anders cocked his head to the left as he continued to watch Alec. He shrugged. "Better than being dead."

"True enough. You mind if I help you and yours kick a little more ass?"

Sam laughed. "Alec, if you're anything like the two who just took off I think you'll be able to help us more than a little. We're getting to the end of what we know, here. Beyond it, really, none of us should be soldiers." He paused. "But I've got 53 people here, and they needed something to keep going. I wasn't about to let them roll over and let the toasters murder us with everyone else."

"Yeah how exactly did you guys escape the furnace?"

"C-Bucs were up in the mountains high-altitude training when the bombs dropped. We made our way out and met up with a few more groups as we slowly made our way down. Found the high school, raided an abandoned military pharmacy for anti-radiation meds and just set up shop. Cylons don't come out this way."

Alec smirked. "Good news for us, I guess." He clapped Sam on the shoulder. "Now, let's get a few more people together and figure out our next step."

* * *

Helo paused as Adama and the rest waited for him to make his announcement. Sharon took a step closer to him and Karl saw out of the corner of his eye that Kara was slowly edging away. Helo coughed, and got straight to the point. "Sir, Sharon is pregnant." He waited a beat. "I'm the father."

The Commander's expression did not change. He looked at Helo before sternly replying. "Lieutenant, Gods help you if you said what I think you did."

"I did, sir. She really is pregnant."

Roslin interrupted. "How could that be possible? She's a machine."

Sharon interjected this time. "We may be synthetic, Madam President, but our systems are identical to humans down to the sub-atomic level. Everything is… compatible."

"I don't believe this," Colonel Tigh growled. "Lieutenant, you were a good soldier. How the frak did you let this happen?"

Karl stiffened. "Sir, I have no excuse. I-"

"It seems 'Sharon' will require a visit to Doc Cottle, Madam President." Adama cut in smoothly. "If the Cylon is indeed pregnant, this changes… things."

"Sir, I will not let you abort my-"

"You will net 'let' me, Lieutenant Agathon?" Adama's voice went glacial and Karl stopped immediately. "We have no guarantee that Sharon is in fact pregnant, and as of now she is a Cylon prisoner of war. Is that understood?"

Helo nodded jerkily. "Yes, sir."

Adama turned to the XO. "Colonel Tigh, if you will escort Ms. Valerii to sickbay along with Agathon? Marine guards should be on their way shortly."

The guards came and Helo walked side by side with Sharon towards sickbay. They encountered no other members of the crew on their walk; the marines cleared the route of personnel to keep Sharon's presence a secret. Karl considered it a moderate success that Sharon was still alive. He'd been worried the Commander would throw her out the airlock the moment she stepped on board but Adama thankfully managed to hold in his shock and anger long enough to be informed of the situation. The President, however, might be a problem. Helo had seen the look of disgust on her face. Roslin would push to get rid of Sharon as soon as possible, he believed. Hopefully Sharon's pregnancy could sway their decision towards keeping her around to monitor it's development, buying Helo and Sharon more time to prove her use and benevolence.

Sharon nudged him as they strode down the corridors. He glanced over and she began to speak under her breath. "Helo, if they run a blood test on the fetus they're going to see more abnormalities than can be explained by my Cylon biology."

Frak. Karl hadn't even considered that. He had no idea what his X5 genetics would be doing to the fetus; no X5 that he knew of had ever had a child. His sperm might give the child all the abilities he possessed or it might react as if he were fully human. He had no idea. "We'll deal with that when we have to," he replied tersely to Sharon.

They arrived in sickbay and he marines immediately marched Sharon to the nearest bed and attached her restraints to the metal railing. Helo wordlessly moved to stand beside her, ignoring the death glare Tigh was sending his way. Cottle stomped over, and closed the curtain around the trio. "I don't give a damn whether or not she's a Cylon, she's my patient and I will not have this examination become a circus," he told the XO curtly. "You and the guards can wait right there until I'm finished."

The doctor turned to level a glare at Karl. "You never heard of contraceptives, Lieutenant? Only an idiot gets slapped with an unplanned pregnancy in our time!"

Despite more pressing concerns, Helo couldn't help responding indignantly. "It's not like we had time to go buy condoms on Caprica, Doc!"

Cottle snorted and stubbed out his cigarette on the ashtray next to the bed. "Now, we'll need to perform complete physicals on the both of you, but for now I'll just take a blood sample from you, Ms… Valerii?"

Sharon nodded that the name was correct and Cottle continued. "Assuming you're telling the truth is there anything you can tell me to expect from a hybrid pregnancy?"

Sharon shook her head. "No, sir. This is the first recorded pregnancy in my people's history. It's… it's why I was sent to Helo in the first place."

Karl winced as the Doc glanced his way and rolled his eyes. He muttered under his breath as he drew blood from Sharon. "Stupid pilots always thinking with their dicks." He raised his voice to a normal level. "Wait here, I'll test this and we'll see what we've got cookin'."

As Cottle left a marine came to stand at the entrance to their little nook. Karl decidedly turned his back on the soldier. "Sharon… you heard what he said. Physicals. I think I'll tell Cottle then. I think I'll have to."

Sharon nodded slowly. "It might be good to wait a few days; I'm sure you'll be going on the Kobol mission to help guard me, so if you can prove yourself to be valuable again…"

Helo nodded. "Exactly. I really don't know what the reaction might be if they found out I'm not-" he lowered his voice so the guard could not hear. "-exactly human. X5 isn't gonna be too far from Cylon is some minds."

"I think the Commander will stand by you. You'll have proven your worth to the man."

The couple looked up as Cottle walked back over to them. "Well," the doctor drawled. "You are indeed pregnant, Ms. Valerii."

Karl turned to Sharon as she cradled her stomach lovingly. "Our baby girl is gonna be special," she said.

"Again, this whole hybrid business has a lot of unknowns but if the President allows it and we keep you to regular-"

"Wait. Did you say girl?!" Helo interrupted suddenly. "As, in we're having a daughter?!"

"Yes, Helo," Sharon smiled at him. "We're having a girl."

* * *

Lee waited behind his father and the President as they left for a conference room, hoping to speak to Kara. As soon as the meeting had broken up she'd gone back into the Raider, he walked around it, studying its outer hull while Lee waited for her to come back out. Finally he heard her approach. Lee turned around and saw an anxious expression on Kara's face, as if afraid of his reaction. He understood why, she hadn't really left them on the best of terms and was unsure how he'd react to her. That didn't matter to him, though. Lee was just glad to see her back and safe so he moved forward to grab Kara in a big hug. She tensed up but after a moment he felt the muscles in her back relax as she returned the hug.

"Missed you," he whispered.

"I… I missed you too, Apollo," she replied. They broke apart and Lee looked her in the eyes, a soft smile on his face.

"Have fun back home, Kara?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fun? If you call camping out on an irradiated wasteland fun, then yeah, it was a blast."

Lee laughed. "Well, you did find Helo. That's gotta make it worth it, huh? You guys were close."

A look of contentment passed over her face. "Yeah, you could say that. Karl's family."

"I'm glad you got him back, then. Even if you did bring back a Cylon."

Kara winced. "What was I supposed to do? Karl… Karl loves her, Apollo. And she did help us. With her being pregnant there was no way I could leave her behind."

"Do you trust her?"

"I- I think I do. I'm not ready to hand her a gun and ask her to cover my six just yet, but she's done a lot for me already. I think we owe her the chance to prove herself."

"OK. I trust your judgment."

Kara smiled at him and they walked toward the pilot's bunk. "So what about you? A lot went down while I was gone- you frakking got your ass shot! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nearly healed and everything. Few more days and I'll be flying again."

Lee saw Starbuck frown out of the corner of his eye. "So soon? It's been, what, less than three weeks?"

He coughed and looked straight ahead to avoid her questioning gaze. "I, uh, I heal fast. Don't worry about it."

"OK… I'll leave it. Gods. Could the Old Man lose anymore pilots? Me AWOL, you shot, Boomer… who the frak was CAG?"

Lee laughed and turned to give her a big smile. "You won't believe it. Crashdown."

"Crash?! Really?" she asked incredulously.

"Crash. He did good, too. Racetrack helped him out with some of the paperwork, but Dad and Tigh both said other than being pretty green he handled things better than expected."

"Wow. That's… good for him."

"Oh, yeah he was sooo pleased to be thrown into the fire like that. If not for 'Track there to keep him steady…"

"There somethin' going on with those two, Captain?"

Lee smirked. "Pretty sure there is. They've been together a lot since I got shot."

Kara sighed. "I'm not going to be used to you saying that for a while. I… I feel like I should've been here. Stopped it."

Kara's statement brought a twinge in Lee's chest. He stopped walking and turned to look at her. "Kara, nobody could have done anything. I jumped in front of Boomer to save my father. I knew what I was doing."

"Still. I'd have liked to kill Boomer myself. Who got that honor, anyways?"

Lee winced at the memory. "Again, you're not gonna believe it…"

* * *

"Alright, this is how the mission's going down," Kara spoke to the group assembled before her. It consisted of her, Apollo, the Commander, President Roslin, Billy, Elosha, Helo, Sharon, and the crews for the Raptors and marines. That group included Crashdown, Racetrack, Chief Tyrol, and six marines. They were expecting a Cylon presence on Kobol's surface, so Adama wanted to err on the side of caution. _Not that he'll need the marines with me and Karl,_ Kara thought privately. "We've got two Raptors going down to the surface. Crash, Racetrack, you've got Raptor 2 with Helo, Sharon, Chief and Billy. Apollo and I are flying Raptor 1 with Commander Adama, President Roslin and Elosha." The group nodded in acceptance. "Sharon has managed to pinpoint the general area the Tomb should be located in and it's a mountainous region, so we won't be landing right on the doorstep. We're gonna have the marines jump out first and clear a perimeter before we get the President out on the ground. We'll start the trek and keep a couple of advance and rear scouts to make sure we have plenty of warning before any Cylons come near us. Any questions?"

Crashdown spoke up. "If we're expecting Cylons, are we gonna leave guards on the Raptors?"

"Three marines will remain behind to keep the toasters off the Raptors, and ready to send word back to the Vipers on CAP if we need any air support. Any more? No. Alright, then let's head out."

Kara boarded the Raptor and headed up to the pilot's seat. It'd been a while since she had last flown one of the craft, but with Helo not cleared for flight and Racetrack and Crashdown both needed to fly the other Raptor Apollo had been the best remaining choice to co-pilot with her, even though he hadn't officially been cleared yet. Starbuck still had a few lingering doubts about Apollo even going to the planet with them; he claimed to be fine, but nobody recovered from a near-fatal shooting in less than a month. _Well, nobody human_, she thought to herself. _I'll have to keep an eye on him down there. _

The Raptors swiftly made their descent into the planet's gravity well. Kara's gaze swept the front viewport for anything coming at them. "Apollo, how those screens looking?"

The Captain called back from his spot at the ECO station. "All clear so far, Starbuck. If the Cylons are down there they don't have Raiders. We'll know more when we get in closer."

Starbuck continued her descent towards the landing coordinates. The rest of the trip remained calm and soon they were all disembarking onto the planet. It was breathtaking. That was Kara's first, romanticized, thought. She'd been on a planet more recently than the others, but Caprica was nothing like Kobol. Caprica was sick and dying, whereas Kobol was a vibrant, living world. The area they landed on was on the edge of a forest. Again, it should have reminded her of Caprica, but it didn't. Kobol's forests were verdant and old, and the trees much taller than those near Delphi. She stood for a moment, taking it in and heard the sound of birds in the distance. Helo came over to her and a smile broke out on her face. "Nothing like Caprica, huh 'Buck?" he asked with a similar smile. "Everything here's so… calm."

"It's beautiful," she replied. She turned to face her brother fully. "You remember what we're doing here, right? They won't let you scout with Sharon but I'm going to need you to keep your eyes and ears peeled. We might need to head off attacks the marines can't take."

"I remember. You keep an eye on the trees and I'll keep one out for Adama and the President."

Starbuck nodded and moved away towards the two Karl had spoken of. "Sir, we're ready to move out when you and the President are."

Commander Adama nodded and glanced to his side. "We're ready now, Lieutenant," she replied. "Let's get to it!"

The trek was steady but slow going. Kobol's forest was much thicker than Caprica's and full of ferns and other plants on the ground level that required careful navigation. Three hours into it and it started raining. Starbuck was currently somewhere near the front of the group, eyes darting ahead and to the sides constantly on alert. Apollo was in the front, despite her better judgment and the marines were bringing up the rear. Suddenly, Apollo held up a hand, signaling a stop. Kara and Commander Adama crept forward towards his position. "Captain, report." Adama whispered when they reached him.

Water dripped down his face as Apollo spoke without turning his gaze from the trees. "I'm seeing signs of movement ahead. Two groups. One directly in front, the other further back and at 10 o'clock…" Kara watched as he cocked his head, seeming to listen. She did the same, focusing her hearing on the forest through the rain. She was a bit disgruntled that Apollo and his Ordinary senses had spotted the movement when she hadn't. She should've known before he did. As Starbuck listened she was able to make out the sound of mechanical footsteps stomping along the ground. She opened her mouth to report, but Apollo was already doing so. "Centurions. Sounds like… a dozen all told. Probably… yeah, six in each group."

_How the frak does he know this?_ she wondered. Apollo was dead on. She could make out the twelve Centurions in the distance herself, but doubted the Commander was able to see or hear them. He seemed to accept that his son could without hesitation, though. "What do you suggest, Captain?"

Apollo replied immediately. "Send the marines after the group at ten o'clock. Come at them from our left. I'll go after the forward group. Rear assault."

"Are you kidding me?" Starbuck hissed before she could stop herself. "You can't take six Centurions by yourself! Especially not wounded! Don't be stupid, Apollo."

For the first time he turned away from the Cylons to glare back at her. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant," he replied coldly. "I didn't know you were in charge here."

Adama interjected before Kara could retort. "Captain, Starbuck's right. You shouldn't go alone. Even if you are capable, backup couldn't hurt."

Apollo nodded stiffly. "Fine, sir. I'll take-"

"I'm coming with you." Kara insisted.

The Captain continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I'll take Helo with me. Starbuck can go with the marines. Is that acceptable?"

Adama replied in the affirmative and Starbuck reluctantly accepted as well. If she couldn't keep an eye on Lee, then Karl was the person she'd want on the job. Apollo moved back to report to the marines and Helo without glancing at Kara again.

* * *

Lee walked stiffly away from Kara and his father. He wasn't surprised. Really, he wasn't. It had only taken a day for Kara to start thinking he was inferior again. She was damn good at what she did, he knew that, especially for an Ordinary but the fact was that he was X5- he was better. Plain and simple. _She doesn't know that, though_, he tried to tell himself. _She thinks you're a human who just got shot. Of course she doesn't think you can do it._

Lee shoved the rational voice away and beckoned to Helo and the marines. "Alright, we've got Centurions up ahead." He spoke tersely. "Two groups of six. You three-" he spoke to the marines "and Lieutenant Thrace are going after the group at ten o'clock. Side approach. Lieutenant Agathon, you and I are taking the group approaching us directly. Rear assault. We move in 4 minutes exactly. Clear? Let's move."

He turned around without waiting for Helo, but the man kept pace easily. "I'm going to go pretty quick," Apollo told Helo. "I don't know if you'll keep up, so make sure you watch my back." He saw Helo smirk and roll his eyes. He did sound pretty pretentious. Lee started to jog swiftly at an angle to where the Centurions were approaching. They'd need to get far enough away they could get behind them undetected. Helo matched his stride and the pair quickly reached position. They watched the Cylons for a moment. The machines were in a single file line, spread out over a small clearing approaching the Colonial position. Lee checked his watch and removed the rifle from his back as Helo did the same. He held up his hand and then made a fist, signaling it was time.

Lee launched himself forward bringing up the rifle in a swift motion and blasting two rounds into the centermost Centurions head. The explosive rounds made quick work of the metal and he swung his aim to the right, taking out two more in successive actions. Helo took out two of his own, he noted, but the final Centurion managed to shelter itself behind a small outcrop of stones. "Wait here," he told Helo. "I've got the last one."

"Apollo, you shouldn't-" the other began but broke off as Lee moved in front of him. Quickly he blurred forwards and took a running leap before he reached the Centurions position. He twisted his body over in the air and fired straight down at the Cylon before landing smoothly on his feet. He made out the sound of a few shots in the distance before Kara's voice called out clear and he echoed. Lee shouldered his rifle and turned back towards Helo as the toaster fell to the ground. The man was giving Lee a look of pure shock.

"You alive, Lieutenant?" he asked dryly.

"Apollo, you- you're-"

"Yeah I'm whatever, we got the job done. Let's head-"

"You're Manticore." Helo blurted out, halting Lee in his tracks. He turned around to face the other man. "Excuse me?"

Helo didn't look shocked anymore. He was openly assessing Lee now. "You're an X5. I'd know it anywhere. Nothing else can move like us."

"How do you- like us?" It was Lee's turn to be surprised. "You mean you're transgenic too?"

Helo nodded as a smirk emerged on his face. He turned around and pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing the barcode etched into his skin. "X5-384 at your service, Captain."

Lee gaped at the black lines in front of him. "I can't believe it. I- um, I'm 318. Frak. This is- This is huge."

Helo just grinned at him. "You're telling me. Lee Frakkin' Adama is an X5. Who'd have guessed?"

"Gods. Does Kara know about…" Lee trailed off as something clicked in his head. "384?! As in 'Ran away from the Manticore base on Picon' 384?"

Helo laughed. "That's me, alright."

"You and 462 were **still** being hunted before the attacks. And you were here. On _Galactica_. And oh my Gods Kara is 462." It all clicked into place for Lee at that moment. Starbuck, the only pilot who'd ever out flown him. Kara Thrace, the woman whose presence made his body hum in anticipation. It was all because she was transgenic herself.

He sighed heavily and looked back at Karl. "I," he announced. "am a frakking idiot. I've known Kara for how long now?"

Karl smirked again. He was really getting the chance to do that too much today, Lee thought to himself. "In your defense, Kara had no clue about you either."

"Kara had no clue about what, now?" Starbuck's voice called out and the pair turned to look. Kara and the rest of the group were approaching. In the middle of the revelations it seemed both men had forgotten to pay attention to their surroundings.

Lee coughed awkwardly and scratched at the back of his neck, suddenly hyperaware of his barcode. "Um, we'll tell you later, Kara. Nothing vital. We ready to move out?" He turned and headed out before his father gave the go ahead. Lee had a lot to think about and didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment.

He wasn't alone. Yeah, he had his father; which already made him luckier than 90% of the rest of _Galactica's_ crew, but he had no other transgenics to talk to. Nobody else knew what life had been like for him growing up, in and out of home and Manticore. Being taken away from his brother for close to a decade and force to train, to kill, before he was even an adult. He'd been one of Manticore's best soldiers, and that distinction got a lot of unwanted attention from Colonel Lydecker and the rest of the Manticore staff. 318 had been lucky to form a close bond with a couple other X5's in his unit. 494 and 452 were not typical Manticore drones. 494 was sarcastic and confident, and 452 was hot headed but extremely loyal. The two shouldn't have gotten along, and 318 shouldn't have gotten along with them, but the three had clicked. Lee had been grateful he already had a name; 452, or Max, was obsessed with naming the rest of their unit after her original group had given themselves names years before. 494 she dubbed Alec, and he and Biggs were the only normal names she'd come up with. With his luck Max would have ended up naming him 'Blender' or 'Shorty' for no discernable reason. Their acceptance of him had given Lee an in with the rest of the unit, who were wary of him. Despite spending every summer at the base, they still saw 318 as different having grown up with a family, and, really, he was.

Two years after he'd re-joined Manticore fulltime 318 was made commanding officer of his unit, and the decision to select 494 as his second had been easy. They'd worked together effortlessly and honed their unit into the best Manticore had. It had been hard to leave them behind when Lee accepted the deep cover mission into the Fleet. Contact had been hard to come by, reduced to the times when he'd checked in with Lydecker every three months. _I wonder what happened to them_, he thought wistfully. Then again, he really didn't need to wonder. They were dead alongside everyone else he'd known. At least Lydecker bit it as well.

Lee went through the motions the rest of the day, sweeping ahead for signs of more Cylon activity. Dad tried to engage him in conversation a few times, but Lee was too distracted and soon after was left alone. Finally, his father called a halt and they stopped for the night. The rain had finally stopped, but they were all drenched to the bone, and fairly miserable. The three marines had managed to survive the attack on the Centurions and quickly set up a perimeter. Lee dropped his gear to the ground and sat on the edge of the group. Before long Karl and Kara approached. He could just see Sharon back in the middle of camp. With Helo away the three marines were with her, watching Sharon's every move even with her wrists shackled. Lee didn't react as the brother and sister sat beside him, and after a moment Kara broke the silence. "So… Karl says we have something to talk about, Apollo?" Wordlessly Lee just turned his head and pulled at his collar. The barcode stood out starkly against the pale skin of his neck. Kara inhaled sharply as she took it in and he turned back to meet her gaze.

"Surprise," he told her dryly.

"318. My gods. This is… unexpected, Apollo."

That brought out a reluctant smile from Lee. "I've been thinking that all day."

"So, Lee," Karl spoke up. "What exactly is your story? How is Bill Adama's son a transgenic?"

Lee shook his head ruefully and told them about his parents difficulty getting pregnant, and Lydecker stepping in, and his youth spent in and out of the Caprica facility. "Once my parents got divorced Lydecker took me from home… I didn't see Zak for years. Not until my last assignment."

"Last? Did they let you go?" Kara asked

Lee barked out a humorless laugh. "Let me go? After you two? No, they didn't. My last assignment was to join the Fleet. Get into some cushy position and keep on eye on things in case Manticore decided to remove the establishment from power. They were… more than pleased the day I got assigned to _Atlantia_ and Admiral Nagala."

"So you're still there."

"Yeah. Well, I would be. If not for all this," he gestured around. "I never left. Dad… Dad thinks I did. He thinks Lydecker let me out."

"Frak," Kara swore quietly. "Did… did Zak know?"

Lee abruptly stood up and turned his back on them. "No. No, I never told him. Lydecker made it clear what would happen if I did. And… I didn't know how he'd react. I was scared," he admitted.

Kara and Karl didn't say anything to his confession and he finally turned around. Kara had a guilty look on her face, and her brother was looking at her instead of Lee. "You told him, didn't you?" Karl asked her. "You told Zak."

Kara closed her eyes and nodded. "I did. Right after he proposed. I… I couldn't marry him without telling the truth about who I am."

Lee swallowed, and cleared his now dry throat. "Did he- how did he take it?"

"He didn't care," Kara whispered. "He took a day to absorb it, but, Lee, he was great. He didn't care."

Lee's heart clenched and his stomach twisted unpleasantly. Frak. Kara had told Zak. He knew. He knew what she was and he hadn't cared. He hadn't cared. That means he would've- "Oh gods," he whispered brokenly. "I should have told him. I should have told him! He was my brother, my best friend, and he died not even knowing who I was. Gods."

Karl reached out and touched his shoulder tentatively. "It doesn't matter, Lee. He didn't know anything… but he knew you loved him. He knew. You should've heard him talk about you; he frakking worshiped the ground you walked on. You were a legend before I'd even met you."

Lee shook his head. "No. It was a lie. I lied to him every day. That's not love. That's not love, Karl."

"Lee, stop it," Kara told him sharply. "You had good reason not to tell Zak. You didn't know if Manticore was watching you. They would have killed him if you told him your secret. You were protecting him. It was the right thing to do."

Lee smiled bitterly. He wanted to believe them both but wasn't ready to let himself just yet, if he ever would. "Enough about me. Let's hear about Manticore's Most Wanted."

Karl smiled. "There's less to tell than you'd think, actually. Picon was rough. Director Renfro was heavy on the experimental end of Manticore, so we got put through tests pretty regularly. We were all terrified of the staff. One night, Kara came in, grabbed my hand and we just took off. Kept running until we decided to join the Fleet."

"They never thought to look for us right under their noses," Kara interjected. "We haven't caught wind of any Manticore agents on our tail since we signed up."

Lee shook his head. "It was a good idea. If they'd known I'm sure my team would have been looking for you but they didn't have a clue."

"Yeah, well, we all know how I'm a genius, Apollo. You shouldn't be surprised."

Something occurred to Lee and he turned to look at Helo. "Your child is half transgenic."

Karl sighed and rubbed at the back of his head. "Yeah. Um. I'm gonna have to tell Cottle about that when we get back."

"Don't worry about it. He already knows about me."

"Wait you told Cottle? Why?"

"I didn't- Dad did after I got shot. Had to give him all the information he could. Doc took it pretty well."

Karl nodded in relief. "Good. That's good."

"Apollo, do you think we should tell the Commander?" Kara asked him contemplatively.

Lee thought it over for a minute. "I do. He's known about me my whole life, obviously, and I don't think that affected anything. And if he knew you'd probably be put even more directly under my command than now."

'Yeah, what makes you think that?"

"I'm your superior here and I was CO of my unit so I'd probably be your superior in Manticore as well." Lee shrugged. "Besides, if I trust the two of you it'll make things easier with my father and the President. When she finds out we're not human, I mean."

"I don't know if I trust her," Karl admitted. "The looks she was giving Sharon, especially after I told them she was pregnant… she'd like nothing more than to space both of them even with all Sharon could help us out."

"I don't know how I feel about that yet, Karl, to be honest. But I'll put in a good word with the Commander. It might help, it might not."

"You're not freaked out by her looking like Boomer?" Karl asked bluntly.

"It's weird," Lee admitted. "And I'll probably forget sometimes… but Boomer was a pawn. I'd kill her if she came back but it wasn't totally her fault. Your Sharon isn't her. I'll give her a chance to prove that."

* * *

Kara was still adjusting to the previous night's revelation as the Colonials close in on the Tomb's location. She was a bit annoyed that Apollo had slipped by her for so long undetected. She'd known there'd been something special about him, something almost magnetic about his presence, but Kara would never have guessed it would be this. He was an X5. Just like her. This… this changed things. She'd been worried about him before; putting himself at risk when she couldn't watch his back, biting off more than he could chew. But he could handle it. He could handle _her_. Kara hadn't been around another transgenic other than Karl- to her knowledge- since she left Manticore. Alec didn't count; she was barely acquainted with him. But Lee… despite what she'd told him on Colonial Day he was her best friend. Possibly her only friend, outside of her brother. _Oh, lords, the three of us are gonna wreck shit up_, she thought with wonder. _I __really__ hope there are more toasters down here to play with_.

Helo was currently holding the lead position in the convoy, scouting ahead for any sign of Cylon activity. Kara was walking next to Sharon, who seemed a bit subdued today. Kara glanced over at the woman and decided to bite. "Something bugging you, Sharon?"

Sharon just sighed wearily and shook her head. "No. Yeah. I don't really know, to be honest." She put a hand to her stomach and looked up. The nearest marine was eyeing her with an expression that combined contempt, disgust, and lust. Kara recoiled slightly. "I guess everything just feels so much more real now that I'm here. I know what I'm doing, why I'm doing it. But… seeing people like that," she gestured at the marine "and even the President, who want nothing more than to rip my head off makes we wonder if this was the right decision. Is my baby really going to be safer here than with the Cylons? Or are we both dead no matter where we go?"

Kara stopped and grabbed Sharon's shoulder. The marines shifted uneasily around them but she ignored them and focused on the woman in front of her. "I won't let anything happen to you. Karl won't let anything happen to you. If we ask… Apollo won't either." The flicker that went through Sharon's eyes told Kara the woman hadn't missed the implication of Apollo's inclusion in that statement. "We'll fight for you. We'll fight for your child. You deserve the right to prove yourself, and your baby has nothing to prove. It's innocent. **She** is innocent, and she is my niece."

Sharon gave her a soft smile as Kara finished her vow. It was surprising how much that quirk of her lips made Sharon look like Boomer had when they'd first met. It was a look of gratitude, of shyness born from expectation of being rejected. The pair started moving again easily keeping pace with the rest of the convoy once more. They had just reached the top of the small mountain Sharon believed the Tomb of Athena was located on.

At the front of the line Helo held up a hand. Lee moved up to his side and with a glance back towards Commander Adama the two crept forward slowly through the edge of the trees. Five minutes went by before they came back, and Kara walked forward to join the meeting with the Commander and President. "We're close, the Tomb is just over that ridge we're standing on," Apollo reported. "Unfortunately, the area is crawling with Cylons. Helo and I spotted at least twenty Centurions and a handful of skinjobs. They've blown apart what looks like a door to the cave there, so there's likely some more inside."

The President nodded grimly. "Thank you, Captain. Obviously we need to clear them out. Any suggestions, Commander?"

Adama merely looked at Apollo. "I think we should let Captain Adama decide how to play this," he stated. "Can you do it, Apollo?"

Apollo drew himself up straight. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Take a minute to decide how many of us should accompany you and how you'd like to proceed."

"Actually, I already know what to do, sir." He glanced directly at Kara, and she immediately knew what he wanted. Starbuck gave a brief nod of assent and Apollo continued. "I just need Starbuck and Helo for this."

Adama raised an eyebrow. "Only three, Captain?"

"Yes, sir. We're… uniquely equipped to handle this situation," Apollo answered vaguely. Kara saw Adama's eyes widen in surprise as he looked at her and Karl with new eyes, and she could tell Adama. understood what his son was saying. _Cat's out of the bag now, Starbuck_.

"Understood," the Commander replied quietly. "The rest of us will head back a ways and wait for your cue. Good hunting."

Kara watched Adama lead a bewildered Roslin and the rest of the Colonials away, leaving the three transgenics to themselves. "Alright, Apollo, what's the plan?" she asked.

"Simple," he replied. "Twelve of the Centurions are clustered to the left of the cave entrance and the remaining eight are directly in front. Skinjobs are set up behind those at the mouth. Now, we've got the rifles with explosive rounds, sidearms and a couple of grenades each. I want you, Kara, to sneak around to the top of the cave entrance. Helo, you and I will each toss a grenade at the group of twelve and then wade into the middle of the others. We'll take 'em out as quick as we can, blurring constantly without stopping. Starbuck, you're set to drop on the skinjobs as soon as the bombs go off. We need to strike quick and stay in the thick of them if we can. They've got the numbers and we need to take advantage of friendly fire as much as we can."

Kara nodded slowly as Apollo went over the plan. It was bold; risky. Something she'd have come up with, actually. Conventional wisdom would suggest setting up a distance away from the Cylons and sniping a large number of them away. With the X5 speed and reflexes, though, the three of them should be able to drop in and cut through half of the toasters before they have a chance to react.

"Apollo, what about the Cylons inside the Tomb?" Helo asked. "If Starbuck's getting rid of the skinjobs in front of it any inside might take potshots at her."

Apollo nodded. "It's a risk," he acknowledged, turning to look at her. "Starbuck, you'll need to move the action either inside the Tomb quick to assess the forces in there, or, preferably, get them to the side of the mouth and we can all worry about the Tomb when we're finished."

"I'll see what I can do," Kara promised and bared her teeth in a predatory grin. "Let's get to it, gentlemen. Show these machines how a transgenic does it."

She moved out ahead of Helo and Apollo, blurring silently out of range of the Tomb and quickly ascended the hill the Tomb was built into. She needed to drop about twenty five feet from the small lip above the mouth to reach the skinjobs below her. Kara reached position and held up a fist she knew Apollo would see. She glanced quickly around at the ground. The gleaming steel of the Centurions were positioned as Apollo had reported, and the skinjobs directly beneath her were a mix of Doral's and the blonde Six's.

Movement from the tree line drew her gaze and the blurred forms of her brother and Apollo came out of the underbrush. She paused for a brief moment to just appreciate the sight. For all she'd been through and accomplished, this was the first time Starbuck had engaged in full combat with another X5, let alone two. She and Karl were never paired together on the rare strike missions Fleet pilots were deployed on and the presence of Ordinary's always meant she had to hold herself back. Now, she could unleash and just fight. Do what she was made to do. Today was a gift.

Starbuck pulled her sidearm from its holster and leaped down as soon as the grenades went off, sending large clouds of black smoke over the area. As soon as her feet hit the ground 462 dropped the two female Cylons with a pair of precise headshots. The nearest Doral reached out to grab her but she ducked quickly beneath his grasp and drove her knee into the Cylon's gut before her bullet lodged into his heart. 462 shoved the body back into another Doral and flipped up and over the third Cylon rushing her from behind. She touched down and immediately snapped her leg out into a high kick into the back of his head. He fell to the ground and a bullet soon put him out for good as well. Shouts came from the Tomb and 462 backed off to see three Leobon's exit and come beside Doral.

462 bared her teeth again, assessing the situation. Beyond her immediate area Helo and Apollo were making quick work of the remaining Cylons, blurring and shooting with ease, moving quickly enough that the machines could not lock onto them. Her eyes met the advancing Cylons once again. _Fools_, she sneered contemptuously. The Gods were definitely with her as her targets were all unarmed. 462 raised her sidearm once again and quickly fired rounds into the skinjobs before they could engage her. Her gun clicked empty and only one Cylon remained. It was a Leobon.

"Kara," he breathed, and suddenly, she knew without a doubt that this was the same Leobon she'd interrogated back in the Fleet. "Didn't I tell you? God's plan is in motion. You're doing His work. You're even more magnificent than I dreamed."

462 snarled and blurred forward, grabbing Leobon's throat and shoving him back into the rock wall of the Tomb. She stepped in close, bringing her face inches from Leobon's. "I do not," she hissed. "believe in your God. He has no hold on me." Starbuck twisted her wrist violently and the snap of Leobon's neck echoed into the Tomb behind her.

Starbuck turned back to the rest of the fight just as the grenade smoke had cleared away. Helo and Apollo both appeared uninjured. A soft whirring noise grabbed her attention and the three transgenics turned towards a Centurion attempting to crawl towards them despite having both arms and a leg blown off. Helo bent down and picked up an intact Centurion limb and moved towards the damaged machine. He gripped the metal near the end and swung powerfully to impact the Centurion's head with a vicious slap, knocking it clean off the body.

Kara snorted. "Nice, Karl. Way to show off."

Karl grabbed his heart and smirked and her. "Kara, you wound me. This wasn't showing off. I've just wanted to bitch slap a toaster for months now, can you blame me?"

Apollo rolled his eyes and whistled loudly. A few minutes later the rest of the team approached their position, staring around at the Cylon corpses around them. Kara could see Crashdown grinning like an idiot as he kicked a piece of Centurion on the ground. Adama walked straight to them and clasped Apollo on the shoulder. "Good work, all of you," he said proudly.

The President still looked a little shocked as she moved towards the tomb. She paused, and Elosha came beside her. "Well," Roslin spoke softly. "Let's not delay any further. Shall we, Commander?"

Adama nodded and turned to the others. "Crashdown, Racetrack, Chief- you and the marines stay out here. Sharon you will remain as well. The rest of you are coming in."

Kara entered the dark tomb behind the President and Priestess. After a moment her eyes adjusted and the inside was clearly visible. There were statues situated around the edge of the circular room, images of the twelve lords of Kobol. "What are we supposed to do, Madam President?" Billy asked warily.

Roslin held up the golden Arrow and looked around the room. "We have an Arrow…" she walked forwards to the statue of the Archer of Sagittaron, whose bow had no arrow. "And Arrows belong with archers." She placed the Arrow in its slot and immediately the Tomb plunged into darkness.

Kara held her breath for a moment and waited. Her skin crawled and despite straining her eyes as hard as she could to see through the black nothing was visible. Slowly light began to filter back in, but the group was no longer standing in the musty Tomb. A light breeze brushed across Kara's face, and she blinked, noticing the small points of light above her were stars. Beneath her feet was a thick bed of grass that stretched as far as she could see in all directions. The group was in the middle of a circle of stones; twelve once more. Upon each was a pattern of bright lights.

"These are the ancient symbols," Elosha spoke, pointing at the nearest stone. "This one, it's Capricorn, and there's Leo, and Cancer…"

"All twelve of the ancient names," Helo whispered. "This- this is the real Tomb." He gestured broadly around them.

"Are we still on Kobol?" Adama wondered aloud.

"No." Kara surprised herself by speaking. "We're on Earth. Can't you feel it?" The cat inside was purring contentedly. _This is home_, it insisted.

"The Thirteenth Tribe looked to the stars and their Twelve Brothers smiled down upon them," Elosha intoned reverently.

"It's a map," Apollo announced. "Look. The Lagoon Nebula, astral body M8."

"We can find Earth," Roslin whispered. "We can really do it. This can-"

The President broke off as a soft light began to flicker just beyond the stone circle. Five lights flared to life, slowly taking shape. They were beings, beings of pure light. The Five moved silently towards Kara and the other stunned Colonials, growing brighter with every step. They were all of differing height, and **seemed** human, but the hooded robes they wore shone so brilliantly that no details could be seen of their faces.

Finally they came to a stop just in front of the group. Nobody spoke for a moment, until Adama cleared his throat. Before he could say anything, though, the middle figure, the tallest, spoke in a deep, smooth voice. "The time is coming. All that has happened before shall not happen again. The cycle must be broken. The Three have been Called to protect the One. The Five will guide in the journey to Salvation."

_"Initiate Program: Manticore."_

With those words the Five exploded and the world vanished into light.

* * *

Galen Tyrol shifted uneasily outside of the Tomb. He couldn't help but steal glances at Helo's Sharon. It was awkward, he decided. Boomer was barely dead, and now this other person was walking around with her face. Sharon caught him staring and opened her mouth to speak the same instant a molten spike was driven into Galen's head. He fell to the ground with a moan as the pain washed through every part of his body. Finally it cleared, and everything was different. Racetrack was hovering over him but his eyes were focused elsewhere. "Initiate Program: Manticore," he whispered.

* * *

Saul Tigh stood on shaky legs and grabbed the edge of the hatch. He'd been halfway into his quarters when the pain kicked in. He closed the hatch and turned towards his wife. She was sitting numbly in her chair by the bar, and her eyes moved to meet his own. "Things are changing, Saul."

He nodded. She was right. "Gods, Ellen," he shook his head ruefully. "What the frak are we gonna do now?"

* * *

Tory Foster groaned and rubber her forehead as she sat up from where she'd fallen in her quarters on _Colonial One_. "This is officially the worst day ever," she complained.

* * *

"Initiate Program: Manticore," Samuel Anders spoke. He didn't move from where he'd fallen and was soon shaken roughly by Alec. Sam sat up slowly and looked at the transgenic. _The X5 series is beautiful_, he thought, as he took in Alec's confused face. He shook his head and got to his feet. "Sorry, man," he apologized. "I got a little dizzy for a sec. Might be coming down with something." He shrugged off Alec's hand on his shoulder and headed back inside the high school. He had plans to make.


	12. All the Right Moves

**Chapter 11: All the Right Moves**

AN**:** Holy ghost, a new chapter! I've had this thing sitting on my computer in various stages of completion for probably over a year now but I could never seem to get it finished. It didn't help that shortly after chapter ten was posted I started to watch Stargate: Atlantis and seeing all the fancy tech and flying cities made me scoff at what BSG had to offer. I had to stop myself a few times from wrapping this up by killing everybody on both sides off. Then I was hesitating because I really don't have an end in mind for this yet. I have most of my ideas figured out for the rest of this season, in regards to Pegasus and New Kobol more specifically, but I'm not sure how I want to end it in terms of Earth. I didn't like how the show resolved that the Colonials are our ancestors and I'm leaning more towards them finding a planet full of natural born transgenics. So, please, if you have any ideas you'd like to see, tell me in your reviews. Anything will help, and hopefully it won't by 20 months before the next update. This chapter is a bit short but it says all I want it to so I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Karl leaned heavily against the Raptor's deck. After light show had ended the group had quickly left the Tomb and made their way back to the others. They were all anxious to leave Kobol after they'd seen the mysterious figures. _The Three have been Called to protect the One_. The words played through his mind in a loop. The Three. Who were they? The transgenics? It was possible. But it could be something else entirely- Cylon model 3, or any other random group of three individuals. And the One. Once again Karl was completely lost as to the significance. The only possibility for that one was his unborn child. Helo did not appreciate the fact that his daughter might possibly have some kind of destiny before she even took her first breath. And who were the Five? Were they human? Gods? Were they descendants of the original people from Kobol? Whoever they were, they were extremely advanced. The holograms or transportation device or whatever the hell they used to stage their little show had been impressive. It all sounded like something out of a bad movie and just made Karl's head ache.

Karl sighed and cracked his neck to clear his mind. He shouldn't worry about mysterious pseudo-religious messages right now. Helo had exactly three things to concern himself with: Keeping Sharon safe, adjusting to being outed as an X5, and fitting back in on _Galactica_. He hoped that the Commander would be re-instating his flight status sooner rather than later now that he knew his secret. That brought his mind back to Apollo. He couldn't believe Lee had hid his true nature from Kara for so long and neither had realized the other was not human. The Commander's son being in the same position as he and Kara could only be a good thing, to his thinking. Adama couldn't persecute the two of them and not do the same to Lee. It, hopefully, granted them amnesty against any members of the Fleet who would want them gone just for being other than human. It wouldn't surprise him if few people outside of _Colonial One_ or _Galactica's_ hulls ever found out. Helo knew full well that humans were easily swept up in mob mentality and the wrong person shouting about nonhumans could prove disastrous. At the very least Karl expected a short reprieve after the events on Kobol. The President and Commander would be discussing what to do next for a while, he knew so full decisions could take a while.

A slight bump brought Karl out of his thoughts as the Raptor was making its approach to _Galactica_. He glanced to his left and saw the Chief staring blankly at the other wall. When they'd all come out of the Tomb Tyrol had been sitting on the ground looking like he'd just seen a ghost while Racetrack and Crashdown hovered over him in worry. He'd insisted he was fine, however, just dizzy, and they'd all moved out. Now, though, Karl could see that something was clearly bothering the man. He nudged Tyrol with his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey, Chief, you alright?"

Tyrol swallowed nervously and nodded. "Yeah, Helo, I'm fine. Just feeling a little off, I guess."

"Maybe you should stop by and see Cottle when we get back. You might've picked up a bug or something down there, you don't want to get worse."

The Chief snorted bitterly. "If there's anything wrong with me Doc can't help. But I'm fine, Lieutenant."

The use of his rank meant the conversation was over and it coincided with the arrival on _Galactica_ so Karl let it drop. Helo stood up and walked over to Sharon as the hatch opened. "Want me to walk you back?" he asked her, speaking of the holding cell Adama had put her in. "I don't know how often I'll be allowed to visit you, so it might be good to take advantage when we can…"

Sharon smiled softly at him. "I'd like that, Helo. I'll probably be busy the next few days anyways, giving intel and getting interrogated."

The word 'interrogated' made Karl wince and he whispered urgently to the Cylon. "Don't let them hurt you, Sharon. Tell them whatever you can, please. You need to stay healthy for the baby."

The woman nodded and they stepped out of the Raptor onto the deck. Unlike the other day there was plenty of traffic on the flight deck this time, and as more people caught sight of Sharon it got quieter and quieter. Helo held his head up and met the gaze of every crew-member they passed on their way to Sharon's cell. Once she was installed he picked up the phone to speak to her through the glass. "I'm going to go see Cottle now, I think."

"To tell him?" Sharon asked. "Is that a good idea?"

"I think so," Karl answered slowly. "I'll see how everything goes, when he knows I'm X5 before I mention your pregnancy. I'll need to try and make Kara go as well; even back at Manticore she hated the docs. But if we need to we'll get Lee to intervene. I don't want to have to lean on him all the time, though."

"Good luck, Helo. Stay safe."

* * *

Alec and his team made it back to the high school just as the yellow stained sky began to darken. It'd been a long day; the group had traveled to the other side of Delphi and taken out a new Cylon establishment. Of late they were noticing more skinjobs walking around, and now they seemed to be setting up shop in a more permanent way. It was becoming clear the Cylons intended the Colonies to be their new homes.

Alec stepped into the building they were using as headquarters to report in with Anders and the second he walked through the door he felt it. A soft buzzing making his skin tingle, and instinctively he breathed in deep, trying to scent out danger. A brief moment later and the familiar smell clicked in his soul and the pack he was carrying dropped to the ground as he blurred forward to the office. He burst through the door and was immediately assaulted by the sight before him. The woman was small, lithe, with dark brown hair and dark flashing eyes. Her black clothing was tight and did nothing to hide the athletic grace she possessed. Alec reached out and pulled her into his arms, grabbing her desperately. He ran his hands over her shoulders and brought them to the side of her face as he leaned in. His lips crashed into hers in a fierce move of relief, worry, and desperation.

Finally, they broke apart. "Max. I… I can't believe it. You're here. Oh Gods, Maxie."

She smiled brilliantly up at him. "I missed you, smart Alec."

He tugged her close again and breathed in her scent. _Home_. "How did you get here?"

Max's smile faded and Alec felt the shudder wrack her frame as she began to talk. "We… we'd just landed on Picon when the bombs started falling. Renfro was recalling everybody to the base. Biggs and I reported in and she sent us right back out with Riley to track down a few of the scientists. As soon as we cleared the perimeter the Cylons dropped a nuke right on top of headquarters. Everyone died, Alec. Everyone. Renfro… Cece, Zach, Joshua, Mole… everybody. Just like that."

Alec closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "Gods. I… I figured they were gone after what happened here, but… I thought they'd have had a chance to fight. Take some of the machines out with them. Dammit." He stepped back from Max but didn't remove his hands from her arms, needing the contact as he sat down on the desk. "What happened next?"

"We holed up. Went to the nearest Manticore bunker we could find and spent the next month there. I wanted to help, but Riley talked me out of it. There's nobody left on Picon. It's a radioactive wasteland now; much worse than anything here. No plants, no oceans… half the buildings were toppled. The radiation was so bad that everybody who wasn't flash burned was already half dead the next day. They screamed and cried for help but obviously no one could… it was horrible Alec." Max buried her face into Alec's chest as she shivered uncontrollably.

Instinctively Alec pulled her close again and stroked her back. "You're OK now, Maxie. It's gonna be OK."

"Yeah," she whispered into shirt. "It'll be OK."

"How… how'd you get off Picon, Max?"

She looked up and met his eyes. "Riley. A few weeks ago he stumbled on a hidden drive in the computer system. Manticore had a lot of shit hidden in there. Popped open a door at the back of our bolt hole to find an underground hanger. There was a prototype Raptor in there. It was pretty advanced but entirely un-programmed; Riley, Biggs and I had to set everything up by hand. That's what took so long. We left the hanger, spooled up the FTL and jumped away before the Raider patrols could spot us."

"You jumped in atmosphere? Max, that's dangerous!"

"For a normal ship, it is. Manticore made it possible with this model. Solved all the atmospheric displacement issues and everything. We could've jumped straight out of a Battlestar if we'd wanted to."

"Frak… that's impressive. I had no idea Manticore was doing engineering work."

Max snorted contemptuously. "That's because Renfro didn't see fit to tell us shit, Alec. You know that. She had her hand in everything and anything she could get a hold of. Genetics, engineering, the corporate sector- not that any of it made a damn bit of difference in the end. Anyway," Max continued with her story. "We jumped into orbit around Caprica, saw that it was still habitable, if only just, jumped again and popped out right over Delphi. There were only toasters in the city so we went to ground as quick as possible. Landed in the middle of the quad here to a nice welcoming committee, and, well. Here we are."

Alec looked up in alarm. "They didn't follow you in, did they? Max, we can't stand up to an aerial ass-"

"Relax, Alec. I'm not stupid. We were clean."

"OK. OK, good." He nodded his head. "Yeah, that's good. Damn. I still can't believe you're here, though. I… I gave up hope for a while, Max. I gave up."

Max reached up and ran a hand soothingly over Alec's barcode. "Doesn't matter. You're back now. I'm back now. We're together."

* * *

Adama couldn't stop his hand from coming up and smacking his forehead. He sighed heavily and looked back up at the three officers in front of him. It was… quite a revelation that Kara and Helo were both X5's like Lee. In Kara's case it explained a lot; her near-supernatural skill in the cockpit, high level of competence in war tactics, and especially her extreme reluctance to speak of her past. Bill had always suspected an abusive childhood, but a decade of torture followed by several years in hiding also put the young woman's behaviors into clarity all too well. Finally, Adama cleared his throat and met the gaze of the three transgenics before speaking. "It seems you've been holding out on me, Starbuck."

The woman gave a slight wince but otherwise remained stoic. "Yes, sir." She replied evenly.

"Can't say I blame you."

All three of the soldiers in front of him did a double take at Adama's words. Lee glanced at Kara and Helo and then prompted Bill with a quizzical "Dad?"

Adama gave them a slight smile. "What, did you expect me to be mad? Kara, Karl, I understand why you didn't tell me. Really. I may **wish** you could have, but you had no idea I wouldn't have turned you in to the brass." He frowned. "In fact, I can't honestly say that I definitely would or wouldn't have if I'd heard orders asking for your detainment. So, better safe than sorry. The real question for right now, is, what are we going to do with you?"

"I'm… not sure what you mean by that, sir," Kara started uncertainly.

"Well, now we know that we have three individuals who are capable of doing much more than ordinary soldiers," He held up a hand at the indignant remark he could see coming out of Lee's mouth. "I'm not trying to say I'm gonna work you to the bone, just that I know that during missions I'll be able to ask a bit more of you than I normally would. It's good that you all work well together, preliminary reports from Kobol say that unanimously." He changed tracks abruptly. "Lieutenant, are you qualified to fly Vipers?"

Helo wasn't startled by the question. "Yes, sir"

"If I assume that you have the same innate piloting ability as Apollo and Starbuck, why is it that you ended up flying Raptors?"

"To be honest, sir, I just liked them better. Smoother, less cramped. And," he hesitated. "also I enjoyed being able to talk to the co-pilot, sir."

Helo's co-pilot had been Boomer for the past two years. Bill fought down the shiver of disgust the memory of the sleeper agent wanted to induce. "Understood. Unfortunately, that's going to have to change for a while, as we've got more than enough qualified Raptor personnel. We are lacking pilots skilled enough to fly Vipers, though. There's nobody capable of keeping up with Apollo and Starbuck, so I'm assuming the same can be said for you. With that in mind I'd like you three to work out a system where you act as a trio instead of using traditional wing-mates. I feel together you could do significant amounts of damage in a dog fight."

Kara smirked as her eyes lit up. 'Well sir, I definitely think I can whip these two scrubs into shape so they can keep up with me."

Lee snorted and rolled his eyes. "Starbuck you may be the superior pilot but try not to forget who here is the superior **officer**. Which means I can stick you on kitchen duty until we reach Earth if I decide to."

Bill closed his eyes and held up a hand to stop the remark he could see Kara getting ready to make. "Yes, yes you're all bad motherfrakers, I get it." He lowered his voice and muttered "And Carolanne wondered why I never wanted a housecat."

Helo laughed out loud as Lee and Kara sputtered indignantly but quit when only the other two were dismissed. The Commander watched him with a steady, if slightly curious gaze. Finally he spoke. "You are positive this Sharon will behave, Lieutenant? That she… loves you?"

Helo gave a firm nod and a "Yes, sir," in reply.

Again Adama just looked, searching for something Karl didn't know. After a brief eternity he sighed and removed his old fashioned reading glasses placing them on his desk. "I'd have called you a dammed fool for falling in love with a Cylon a couple of months ago, Lieutenant. Hell, I'd have most likely had you shot. Many people would have trouble with your coupling with a nonhuman being, but, with Lee as my son, Kara as good as a daughter and you one of the finest men I've ever served with that'd be an awfully hypocritical stance for me to take myself." The Commander paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Sharon, though, is not a transgenic. She is a Cylon. It takes a certain amount of faith and ignoring 40 years of deep set behavior to knowingly let one of them remain alive and somewhat comfortable on my ship. And her seeming to be non-threatening is only a small part of why I agreed. The biggest factor is you yourself, Lieutenant. I will allow you daily contact with Sharon because I know without a doubt, that if Sharon Valerii betrays this fleet, child or not, you will do your duty and end the threat. I am choosing to trust you in this. Do not take advantage of the situation and do not assume any additional liberties or there will be consequence. Remember that."

* * *

Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and former fifth year teacher and principal at Delphi's premier private academy, had woken up this morning to a life that, however soul destroying and bleak had at least made sense. She had a daily routine that was interrupted for only periods of sheer terror when the Cylons found them again or cautious hope when they stumbled on a possible location for more resources. It was the beginning of the week so she took one of the rare showers allowed with the water rationing, got dressed in one of her three business casual skirt suits (navy blue with a light blue collared shirt, luckily one of her favorites) and got ready for her scheduled meeting with Commander Adama.

Now, Laura liked Bill, very much so in fact, but the whole mutiny/coup de tat thing was bound to make things awkward between them for gods knew how long. She really wasn't looking forward to it. With that thought in mind she smiled brightly at Billy as he handed her her notepad and a granola bar and made her way into the conference room of _Colonial One_. Instead of the look of mild consternation she had expected to see on the Commander's face he wore a pensive mask that had just a touch of worry to it. Oh, he hid the worry well, but she would've been a poor politician and an even poorer teacher if she'd not been able to read the faces of the various pundits and miscreants sent to her office over the years.

With a polite smile and exchange of greetings Laura set her notepad down and prepared to speak of the aftermath of the mission to Kobol. "Well, Commander. All I can say in regards to the mission is it was… unexpected."

He gave a short nod. "Agreed. We expected to find signs left by the Thirteenth Tribe, but for those… beings to quote directly from the Sacred Scrolls was unexpected."

"It seemed to me that they were implying that they knew we would need to flee the Colonies one day. That's what I gathered about the reference to the cycle." She paused for a moment. "I have no idea what was meant in regards to 'the Three' or what 'One' they will be guiding. I do however remember a reference in the scrolls to a group of five demons, features obscured by blinding light, that offered the people of Kobol untold power and knowledge only for their gifts to destroy Kobolian civilization and ultimately lead to the exodus. Your thoughts?"

Incredibly, Adama seemed to squirm in his chair for a moment as Laura's gaze rested on his. "I… actually do have a guess, Madam President. It ties into something I wanted to share with you today. It's fairly… unusual and I'm not sure how you'll react but please believe me when I say there is nothing to worry about."

Despite the warning Laura couldn't help the trickle of unease that ran down her spine. With a nod she told Adama to continue. "Does Operation Manticore mean anything to you?" Thinking about it, Laura could only recall dim memories of a mythical beast but that was not likely what the Commander had in mind and she indicated she didn't know what he was talking about.

"I didn't think you would, so I'll give you a brief rundown on their mandate and it's relevance to our situation. Manticore was started several decades ago, just after the first war ended, and was funded by a number of private and military run companies. Just over 25 years ago I was approached by a man I'd served with in the Cylon war, Donald Lydecker. He knew Carolanne and I were having trouble getting pregnant and offered Manticore's assistance. I was skeptical but after he told me more, my wife and I gave them DNA samples and less than a year later we brought Lee home with us."

Here Laura interjected. "Are you telling me the government was operating a secret breeding program?"

"Partially, yes," Bill admitted. "That's not even the beginning of it, though. Manticore's mandate was to find a way to replace the Cylons in terms of military assets for the Colonies."

"They… gods, are you saying they were making child soldiers?"

Adama confirmed frankly. "They were trying to create super-soldiers. And they succeeded. Lee is several times faster, stronger and infinitely smarter than any human alive. He makes Baltar look like a slobbering idiot. Granted that's not hard to do, but you get the point."

Despite her shock Laura heard herself speak again. "How exactly did they manage to do those things, Bill?"

"Animal DNA. They spliced bits of foreign DNA into each child's genetic makeup before the fertilized egg was implanted into a donor mother. Lee is something like 47% jungle cat on the genetic level."

Just when she thought she couldn't be more stunned. Captain Apollo, sweet little Lee who was by far her favorite member of the Fleet for his unwavering morality, was not human. He was… an alien. _But does that matter?_ She started to ask herself. She'd always known Lee was an extraordinary officer and pilot, he'd mentioned being on the short list for promotion to Major despite being younger than thirty; even she knew that that was unheard of. Intellectually she knew nothing changed much; on a clinical level it was easy enough to equate to a friend having a surprising lineage. She'd dealt with that before, aids turning out to be the love children of some Senator or other. Lee's secret parent just happened to be a bit more unusual, to dramatically understate things. Unbidden an image of a leopard she'd seen years ago sunning itself in the Caprica zoo came to mind and she couldn't stop herself from putting Lee in it's place. The image was altogether ridiculous and as a snort escaped her involuntarily she knew she was OK with this.

With a smile she focused on Bill again, who breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't blame him, if she'd turned on his son things would have gotten immensely ugly. She sensed he wasn't quite finished with her though and said as much only to learn of Kara and Lieutenant Agathon being some of these transgenics as well. _Would wonders ever cease _she marveled. These three could be an excellent resource she knew. It also brought to mind the child growing within the Cylon, the only One-

Laura's mind screeched to a halt and she looked at Adama with wide eyes. "You think they are the three!" she exclaimed.

Biill nodded. "I do. Even if we have other X5's hiding in the fleet these three were the cream of the crop at Manticore. They'd be ideal to protect and guide. Especially a child born to one of them."

She exhaled sharply. "There goes any thought of getting rid of it, I suppose," she muttered. She didn't like this. She really didn't like this. "Alright Bill. I'm fine with these revelations so far, but in regards to the Cylon this only grants her a stay of execution until her child is born. It's clear we will need it and the father around but there is nothing about the mother in the message. Ah- hang on, I'm not finished. Sharon has the rest of her pregnancy to find a way to prove herself both useful and moderately trustworthy, but for the entire time I want her to stay in that cell, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Madam President," the Commander agreed. "I also wanted to ask your thoughts on this becoming public knowledge."

"I think that it's a terrible idea. The fleet is scared, they're already looking for Cylons everywhere, if they learn there are superhuman cat people running around their ships they will not handle it well. No, this is need to know, Bill. You should probably tell Colonel Tigh, and I'm going to tell Billy shortly, but other than that? No one. The Quorom will not hear of this for as long as possible "

Again Adama agreed wholeheartedly. With the mountain climbed the rest of the meeting went by quickly and the Commander made to leave. Laura had just one thing to say. "Commander, I wanted to thank you for trusting me with this. You didn't really have to- Lee is your son and I understand you wanting to protect him in spite of all his gifts. When you get back, tell him thank you for me, and tell him I expect to see my military liaison sometime this week."

* * *

Just outside the conference room, a woman sat quietly contemplating what she had just heard. The Commander and the President knew of nonhuman beings living freely onboard _Galactica_ and were allowing it with no hesitation. She wasn't sure how exactly she felt about that, but she was sure it was not a good thing. The Sacred Scrolls said nothing about gene splicing, of course, but they did speak of the evils of mating with animals and the demons that would spring forth from their loins. This situation was much too close to that for her peace of mind. The Priestess Elosha stood from her chair and quietly made her way to her quarters. She had prayers to do, and, later, a visit to make. Brother Cavil could help her decide how best to deal with these abominations.


End file.
